My Klaroline Drabbles
by SophisticatedFangirling
Summary: All the drabbles I publish on my tumblr. Requests are always welcome
1. cured 1

She gasped, doubling over, her eyes widening in shock.

_No, Elena hadn't done this. She couldn't possibly have-_

Coherent thought fled her mind as she started to convulse on the floor. It felt as if a part of her was being ripped out, violently and mercilessly.

Somewhere in the back of her head, behind the overbearing pain that tore through her body and strangely enough even through her mind, she knew what exactly it was that she was being robbed off.

The part of her that she had come to love the most.

The part of her that was strong, indestructible, the thing that made her more than the shallow, helpless little girl she'd been before. _That she would be again._

Her vampirism.

She was losing her vampirism.

So many times, all these little moments where she had felt it, the difference between who she was now and who she had once been, they came back to her now. When she realized that she _never felt cold_, how much more alcohol she could take and when she woke up the next morning, no hangover whatsoever, how she never had to work out again unless she wanted to just for the fun of it. How she had beat up Damon and Mason and the tomb-vampires, not afraid, not even for a second. How much faster her mind worked, how learning for school or planning for a committee had just become so amazingly easy, her mind making the necessary connections without any effort whatsoever. And the _taste of blood_, little doses of guilt-free ecstasy every day. When she saw children playing on the streets, knowing she'd never have her own. When she looked at her mother and knew that one day she would be dead and gone and she herself would still be here, young and alive, just as she was now. When she sat in class and suddenly the realization overcame her that there was a difference between her and all the other girls she had grown up with, a rift between them, never to be overcome.

And in all this, even in the negative parts of it, she had know with an undeniable certainty, that she wanted this. She didn't want to be human, never again. Klaus had been right.

Vampirism _was_ her, it had become a key part of who she was.

She let out a strangled cry as she felt it end, the threads that connecting her to the thing she loved most about her being ripped to shreds and then the world went black.

* * *

She awoke again, moments later, on the cold hard ground.

_She was feeling cold_.

She shot up as panic claimed her, her eyes widening in shock.

She took in her surroundings first; Elena was standing above her looking down at her with an emotionless expression on her face. The place was empty, nobody else was around.

The pain had gone but she was left with a sense of vulnerability that she had dreaded for about a year now. _That she should never have felt again_.

"Sorry, Care, but the guys wouldn't get off my back. And also," a smirk spread on her face. "you needed to be taught a lesson. Have a nice day." She turned around and stalked off, clearly satisfied with herself.

_The cure_.

_She had ingested the cure._

What if this was permanent? What if there was no way to change back?

Her mind was racing. No, no, there had to be a way.

She needed to go back, she needed to be a vampire again.

This should never, _never_ have happened.

She stumbled up upon her feet, scraping her knee in the process.

It would not heal, not now. She winced at the thought, still feeling kind of disoriented.

She needed to get home, get somewhere safe and then find a way to fix this.

_Fix this_.

She made her way to the town center, stumbling a few times in the process. This had to be psychological, she hadn't had problems with walking before all this. Maybe she was just overreacting, she needed to calm down.

She could do this, she could do this.

She focused on the asphalt under her feet, the way she needed to go in order to get _to a safe place_. This would suffice, she just needed to concentrate on getting there and then she would be okay. She couldn't let this fear reach her, not until she was out of reach, until she was inside.

She couldn't look at the passing people's faces, dreading that they would see the difference in an instance.

_This was bullshit, there was no way._

But her mind kept running on, the fear creeping its way in despite her defenses. This was _wrong, so damn wrong_.

It was going to be okay, it was going to be okay, _focus!_

"Caroline, love?"

Her eyes widened and she turned around, faced with about the last person she wanted to see right now.

She should have payed more attention to her surroundings, maybe there would have been a way to avoid this. She needed to get out of this situation, away from him as soon as possible.

The last thing she needed was to be alone with another sociopath vampire, _hybrid_ for god's sake, not when she was human, vulnerable. She needed to get her act together, maybe he wouldn't notice.

He frowned at her. "Are you okay?"

She put an annoyed smile on her face, raising her eyebrows. "Just peachy, now excuse me, I need to run." She turned around and started walking off again, putting as much conviction and self-confidence into her stance as she could manage. The dread washed in again as she felt that she was failing miserably. _Get away, get away._

He was beside her again, now looking even more worried.

"What's wrong love, you can tell me. We are friends, remember?"

She didn't even look at him, fastening her pace. "Yeah, not right now. I don't want to talk to anyone at the moment. I just want to get home."

He caught up with her, effortlessly, as expected. _As she herself couldn't anymore_.

She fought the tears rising in her eyes.

She had had nightmares of this, before. _It was going to be okay, just get your grip together_.

Suddenly, he stopped her, his hands on her forearms, facing her. He stared down at her, a deep frown on his face. At least he wasn't angry. At least he wasn't trying to intimidate her.

"Caroline, something is wrong. And you will tell me, right now, what it is."

She stared up at him, desperately trying to come up with something to say when suddenly she saw him still. Then his eyes traveled downwards, until they found her knee.

_Crap. Shit. He probably smelled the blood._

_No, no no no no no __**no**_.

She backed herself out of his grip. "Yeah, no, just leave me alone," she spat, trying to hide the desperation clawing at her. She needed to be alone.

There was an expression of pure shock on his face, then his eyes found hers again and she knew he knew. "Caroline, you're-"

She turned around and stormed off.

_Leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me alone-_

But he didn't and he caught up with her, grabbing her arm again but this time much more gentle, as if she was made of glass.

She hated this, _hated this_.

"Leave me alone," she said, the desperation now sipping into her tone of voice.

She knew how he treated humans, how he looked at them as beneath them.

She'd already been through that with Damon.

Got forbid, she knew it was very unlikely that Klaus would see her as his prey now but she also knew that he was unpredictable and the last thing she needed was to be alone with him. Mostly, because of the sense of dread that was clawing at her. She couldn't trust herself with him now. _She needed to find a way to cope with this before anything like this._

But he looked down at her, terror in his eyes, and she knew he wouldn't let her.

"It's okay, we will find a way to fix this, love. I promise."

She shook her head. "No, I'm okay, I just need to-"

But he started gently leading her away. To his car.  
"I will take you home and you will explain to me what exactly it is that happened," he commanded and she felt herself give in.

Yes, this was dangerous, but frankly there was nothing she feared more than a walk home right now. Damn irrational fear. Damn _any_ kind of fear.

He opened the passenger's door and gently pushed her inside. She complied, putting on the safety belt as he made his way to the driver's seat. Right, a safety belt, she actually _needed_ that now.

She hated the way he moved, how easy everything was for him. It was like a poster was being held in her face, picturing all she had lost.

"Elena forced me to take the cure," she blurted. He turned his head towards her as he started driving, not looking surprised. "I figured as much."

"I don't know what to do about Silas now," she said, thankful that she could put her mind to anything else but her current situation. "This is all so messed up."

His eyes were fixed back on the street. She realized where he was driving. It was _his_ home. She panicked again.

"Don't worry about that, love. Your wellbeing is priority right now."

He looked at her again, giving her intense stare and she just wanted to vanish into her seat.

Ugh. Typical.

That's when she realized that strangely enough, _she felt better_.

Not safe, no, and this sense of dreaded vulnerability was still gnawing at her insides but she felt better, more in control of herself.

_Breathe._

Right, she needed to do that again.

A part of her got angry, instantly. She didn't want to have to rely on something as trivial as _air_ in order to survive.

"I hope this is reversible," she said, staring out the window of his car. They were approaching his house, the big garden in front of it. Ugh, talk about pompous.

He stayed silent and then they halted and an uneasiness overcame her as she realized she had to get out again.

She pushed it down, unbuckled her seatbelt and left the car and walked past him, focusing on the ridiculously huge front door.

What was she doing here?

Whatever, all that counted was that she needed to get inside.

* * *

He opened the door, and stepped aside, motioning for her to enter. She did.

A little lost she followed him to the door that led to his living room.

She'd been here just days ago.

But everything was different now, terribly different.

She could hear her footsteps echoing on the floor, her legs quivering a bit. Then she stumbled over the step leading to the living room and faster than she could catch up with she felt his arm, steadying her around her waist.

_Ugh. She hated this!_

She clenched her teeth and strode on, not even giving him a glimpse.

This was all so fucking embarrassing.

She sat down on the sofa, burying her face in her hands.

She took a deep unsteady breath. At least she was inside, at least she didn't have to _walk_ anymore.

He walked up beside her, placing a glass in front of her.

"I think you need a drink," he commented, as he filled it with bourbon.

She looked up at him frowning. But he was right, she did.

He looked down at her, reassuringly, but the worry was still very evident on his face.

"Stay here. There is something I need to take care of first."

Then he left the room as she was alone, finally.

She sunk deeper into the sofa, staring at the ceiling. Tears finally made their way to her eyes and she let them, crying softly and silently for she knew he could hear her. But _she_ couldn't hear _him_, not anymore.

She didn't want this, none of this, never.

She was a vampire, this was how it was supposed to be.

Suddenly she thought of her father and the fact that he was most likely watching her right now.

She knew what he would want her to do, what would make him proud. And make him proud, she had wanted nothing more, in all her life.

Her mom would be so happy.

She could have the life she had always wanted, before this. Marry some handsome boy, have a house and a dog and a family, _children_. She'd graduate and go off to some college.

She'd grow old and die happy.

Another tear slid down her face.

No.

She did not want that.

She did not want to be human.

"_I'm sorry, dad_," she voiced, silently.

Then she sat up again, wiping the tears from her face and took the glass, downing it in one slug.

The liquid tasted bitter in her throat and she choked a little.

She hated this, she needed to be back to herself again. She _needed_ to be a vampire again.

The only way to do this was to die again.

If that would even work.

It would be too cruel otherwise, she didn't want to accept it. Having gotten her glimpse of eternity, only to be left human again. No.

Finally, he returned, closing the door behind him.

"I consulted some witches for advice," he said, sitting down beside her, not too closely. He was keeping his distance. He leant forward, his arms placed on his legs, his head turned towards her. "There shouldn't be a problem."

She frowned. "A problem with what?" But to be honest, she already knew his answer.

"With turning you again."

She took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes."

She pulled her legs up on the sofa and hugged them with her arms, staring off into the distance. Silence spread between them.

"I am going to turn you if that is what you want," he said, never taking his eyes off her.

She nodded and licked her lips.

"Thank you."

"Always," he answered and she didn't dare to look at him.

She poured herself some more of the bourbon and took another huge gulp.

"I guess this is the part where you ask me how I want you to kill me," she spat, taking out a little of her tension on him. It wasn't fair, she knew that, but he was a goddamn psychopath serial killer. He should be able to take as much.

He looked down and she saw a flick of something she couldn't quite place in his eyes.

"I'm going to do it myself," she stated and he raised his head again, an expression of shock on his face.

He cleared his throat. "If that is what you want," he answered.

She let out a dry laugh. "I guess you're the expert in the matter. How should I do it? I'm most definitely not going for suffocation again. Thank you, but I've had enough of that."

He frowned. "Is that how you died?"

She snorted. "Katherine smothered me with a pillow. I didn't know her at the time, I thought she was Elena."

Anger flashed up in his eyes. "I happened to have Damon's blood in my system, I was in an accident before that so I guess he healed me."

He ground his teeth against each other.

"I see."

Then silence spread again and she took another sip.

"I have a weapon in the house. Or you could… hang yourself."

Reality hit her and she downed another bit of alcohol.

She thought about it. Watching her mother she had always wanted to use a gun.

Why would he even have one? Not that he needed it.

Well, he probably had a whole arsenal of it around.

She chuckled. "Or I could jump," she said.

He frowned, then nodded.

"I wish I could spare you this part of the process. I could… I could snap your neck," he took a breath. "It would be quick and painless."

She stared off into the distance, dread rising up in her again.

Maybe this would be easier.

She didn't really want to kill herself.

It would be against her nature, against everything she was.

"Fine," she said, finally and she saw a flick of uneasiness go through his eyes.

"Oh, come on," she remarked. "It shouldn't be a problem for you. After all, you've tried before."

She was being mean, she knew it, but being mean was better than being weak.

His gaze hardened, then he sat up, pulled up his sleeve and with one swift motion, bit down on his wrist.

He held out his arm towards her, motioning for her to take it.

"Drink," he said and she turned towards him, taking his arm into her hands.

She felt a spark at the connection and she swallowed hard, pushing the sensation down to all the other things she was suppressing right now.

"Wait-" she said, suddenly panic spread in her eyes. "What about that sire-bond-thingy?"

He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Caroline, that's a one in a million chance. Moreover," he pierced her with his stare. She hated when he did that. "You have made it more than clear that my feelings for you are unrequited, so that shouldn't be a problem."

She looked away, uncomfortable again.

He used the moment to bite down on his wrist again.

"Now drink, the sooner you do the sooner we get this over with."

She took his arm again, one hand grasping onto his and she tried to ignore when she felt his fingers slip around hers, holding her reassuringly.

Then she pulled it up to her lips and started drinking.

_Ugh_. It tasted nothing like it usually did, ecstasy, better than human blood fresh from the vein.

Instead it was metallic and kind of made her want to throw up.

But she drank, gulping down as much as possible, wanting to make sure that this would work and she felt him pull her back into him, her head resting lightly against his chest. His hand went through her hair, caressing it just like he had done the last time they had done this.

The day he'd tried to kill her. The night she'd learned he loved her.

She should pull away, but it felt good.

Some sort of comfort, and she needed that, god, she needed that right now.

It was really a mystery to her, how he could be such a monster yet so gentle at the same time.

Finally, she let go, coughing a little, leaning away from him.

She felt his hands drawing back, away from her and she stilled.

This was the part where he was going to _kill her_.

She gulped, her eyes widening at the thought.

She was going to die again.

"Tell me when you're ready," she heard him say behind her, a gentleness in his voice that made her shiver.

She should really get this over with, now.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Now," she whispered, tensing up even more.

Then she felt his hands on the sides of her head, a quick pang of pain and everything went black again.


	2. Cured 2

She woke up with a gasp, eyes fluttering wide open, sitting up from her lying position in inhuman speed.

Her heart hammered in her chest like a drilling machine and she felt alive, awake, _thirsty_.

She looked around and took in the surroundings.

She was in Klaus' living room, right.

He was standing beside her, just having gotten up from his armchair. She looked up at him as her brain processed the information.

She could see, she could feel and smell and _taste_ everything with a renewed intensity. There was still some of his blood left on her tongue and this time it felt how it was supposed to feel. The most delicious thing in the world, not a stale metallic taste. She took a deep breath and look down at her hands. They were not shaking.

She was strong again.

A mixture of relief and happiness washed over her and she let out a small laugh. The time she'd spend a human seemed like a dull memory now. She was back to normal, back to how she should be.

But there was one thing that still needed to be done.

_The hunger_.

He was smiling down at her as her watched her accustoming to the situation.

"How are you feeling, love?"

She smiled back up at him, pulling her legs down from the couch and herself into a sitting position, eager to fulfill the last part of the ritual.

He offered her a glass filled with blood.

Immediately her vampire face emerged and she saw a mixture of surprise and awe on his face.

Swiftly, she grabbed the glass and gulped down all of it in one slug.

She let out a moan as she felt the liquid slide down her throat, unable to control herself.

This was the best, the best feeling she knew. Ecstasy.

She wouldn't want to miss this. Ever.

And now the last step was taken and she was entirely and absolutely back to herself.

A vampire.

She laughed again and then halted. Wait a moment, this was kind of an overreaction. Heightened emotions, right.

Judging from the last time it would most likely take a few days to get used to this.

She looked back up at him.

"More," she said and then she spotted the carafe on the coffee table. It was filled with blood.

He already had it in his hands before she could even try to reach it and once again her glass was filled to the brim with the thing she desired the most right now.

She drank, this time taking her time, savoring every single sip of bliss.

This was better.

This time was so much better than the first time.

When she was done she took the carafe from him and he sat down beside her, watching her as she devoured all of it greedily.

When she was done she put both the glass and the carafe down on the table.

She took a deep breath. She was sated. At least for now.

But she was exhilarated, delighted by the second chance she'd been gifted with, the taste of the blood still lingering on her tongue, her newfound clarity about who exactly she was and who she wanted to be. He had been right.

She turned towards him, smiling.

"Thank you," she said and his smile broadened. In his eyes she saw a flicker of wonder, just like the last time she had thanked him, when he had saved her from Alaric.

"Always," he answered and this time it didn't feel awkward at all. It felt warm and beautiful – wait, stupid heightened emotions. She needed to keep herself in check.

"So you've actually done it, something decent for once, without anything in return."

First she saw a flicker of resentment in his eyes, but it died down.

"I suppose," he answered.

"I guess we're even now," she muttered, leaning back into the couch, enjoying the feel of the fabric on her skin in a whole new, old, _perfect_ manner.

He raised his eyebrows.

"I saved you and you saved me," she explained, gesturing with her hands to support her words.

He chuckled. "Well, that sounds about right."

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment.

She was feeling just right.

Maybe this whole thing had only led to her being able to appreciate this more now.

The last time it had been a shock, unexpected, something she had to deal with before she finally came to enjoy the perks of being a vampire.

At the memory, she felt an overbearing sadness overcome her.

Before she could even begin to control it she felt tears rising up in her eyes.

Elena had shoved the cure down her throat. Elena had tried to kill her.

Her best friend had tried to kill her.

She raised her hands to her face, desperately trying to get the tears off her face.

_No, no, not here, not now_.

"Caroline?"

"No, it's okay, it's just heightened emotions," she sniffled, still trying to stop the crying. But it was like there was a weight in her chest, dragging her down.

Just like the last time she had turned.

_I'm a monster._

Her eyes widened and she couldn't stop the tears anymore, sitting up.

"_I killed someone_."

He looked at her, frowning, obviously worried.

Then realization hit her.

"_I killed twelve people._"

His eyes widened in shock and immediately her mind made the connection to _the moment that followed._

She wanted to turn away, to run but before she could he pulled her into an embrace.

She didn't even protest.

The force of the emotions she was feeling was simply too much. Guilt, fear, shame, hurt, never, never _good enough_. She cringed, the revulsion she was feeling with herself and the world and everyone in it making her feel kind of nauseated.

There was no way she could control herself right now.

That only made it worse.

Then she felt his hands, caressing up and down her back.

It made it better, a little bit at least.

"_I'm a monster_," she pressed out, unable to keep herself from voicing how she felt. The words fell from her lips like something vile and rotten.

He groaned. "No. You're not." He sighed, obviously struggling with himself.

"You are the vampire farthest away from being a monster that I know – and trust me love, I've known quite a lot."

She shook her head.

No.

"_I'm just as bad as everybody else._"

She had had a chance to be human again, to lead a live that didn't include killing people. But she had bailed.

She saw the face of her father, judging her, disappointed by her.

'_You'll never be okay again, you're a vampire._'

She let out another sob.

"_My father hates me._" She felt Klaus freeze.

"_I had a chance to live up to his expectations and I failed_."

Another sob racked through her and he pulled her closer.

"Nobody in their right mind would consider you a failure."

She just cried, unable to say or think of any coherent response.

Despite all this, she knew she still didn't want to die, to be human. This was harsh reality, painful but true.

She'd been trying to hide behind her humanity, she had been in denial of the fact that she and all of her friends had long since slipped into the realm of the morally grey. She was not innocent anymore, there was blood on her hands. Hell, she needed blood to survive.

And there was still a part of her that was repulsed by that fact, that didn't want to hurt anyone, ever.

"_I'm a terrible person_."

He let out another deep breath, obviously struggling with himself.

She felt him gulp. "_I apologize_," he whispered and it almost broke her out of her pain.

Klaus apologizing – that would be a first.

But the pain returned in a wave crashing down at her and she started sobbing again.

_Wait, this was not right. These were just heightened emotions, she needed to stop this._

_How?_

Simple, she'd only have to focus onto something else, something positive and the emotional reaction would change.

She'd focus on the fact that she was being comforted.

Even if it was him.

It actually felt good to be held by him, too good.

She knew that she was attracted to him, she was not stupid and her denial had worn of some time ago. Nonetheless, he was a monster, a murderer, cruel and vicious.

But not to her, he couldn't, never the way he treated other people.

Each time he'd tried he'd failed and ended up trying to make it up to her.

He hadn't been able to let her die.

And he was obviously in love with her. Despite herself, she felt a warm and fuzzy feeling at the thought. She held onto it, desperate to get herself out of the pain and the self-hatred.

Yes, this was okay, they were actually friends. He was trying.

She snuggled closer and he stilled again, but only for an instance, then his hands continued caressing her back.

She sighed and finally felt the tension fade. Instead a sense of peace and calmness engulfed her.

She stayed like this for a while, her eyes closed.

Then she drew back and sat back into the sofa, wiping the tears from her face.

Yes, things were going to be okay.

She looked at him and she saw wonder and vulnerability in his eyes. They always betrayed him, even when he said the vilest things.

She sighed and thought for a moment. She should call Stefan.

But first she needed to settle this.

She smiled at Klaus, still happy about the relief she was feeling.

"Thank you," she said and he gulped again.

"I'm going home now, I'll call Stefan. He will help me with this, just like he did before. And I have a prom to plan."

He nodded, licking his lips.

She got up and he did, too and then he was walking her to the door.

When they reached it she turned around and smiled at him again.

"So- that's it then."

He nodded. "If you… if you need any help you can call me. After all, we're friends now, right?"

She nodded, smiling brighter. "Yes."

He smiled back at her and she felt her heart warm.

Then she turned around but when she was almost out of the door she heard him call out her name, insecurity and an inner struggle evident in his voice.

She turned again, raising her eyebrows in a questioning manner.

He took a deep breath and licked his lips again. "Tyler… will return for prom."

Her eyes widened.

"What?" Happiness spread in her chest.

"I… arranged it. It was supposed to be a surprise but-"

"Thank you!" she squealed, taking a step forward and hugging him enthusiastically.

He chuckled and she let out a small laugh.

She drew back, her excitement evident on her face.

He smiled back at her, genuinely happy.

"Now off you go. And as for prom – save me a dance."

* * *

_thank you for reading and the amazing response. I've decided to start writing drabbles - leave me requests!_


	3. requirements

_Can you do a drabble about Caroline finding out that her dress is gone and deciding she will have to go ask Klaus for help :3 Anonymous_

_Of course. Thank you, love. :)_

* * *

"I… I don't remember," the woman behind the counter said, frowning.

She was obviously doubting her own sanity, her work ethic. She was probably a reliable person, somebody who took pride in being an efficient worker, multitasking her job at the dress-shop and a busy family life. An adult. But now she couldn't quite grasp what was happening, there was a hole in her memory and she had an idea that something was wrong but it was gone as soon as she wanted to figure out what exactly that was. In these moments every single compelled person Caroline had ever seen were the same, innocent, naïve, like children, reduced to nothing but a puppet.

Her stomach turned.

Elena, it had to have been Elena.

"It's okay. I remember now, I asked a friend to pick it up for me," she said, smiling reassuringly, pushing down the rage that was building up inside her.

The woman nodded, still frowning.

Caroline sighed, then took a look around. Nobody was around to see her.

She leaned in and caught the eyes of the woman before her, her pupils dilating.

"There is nothing wrong. I picked up the dress and the moment that is blank in your mind isn't blank anymore, you spend a very nice time, thinking about the wonderful things in your life. Today is a perfect day. You are very happy."

The woman nodded, he eyes vacant.

Caroline leaned back again and broke the compulsion and suddenly the woman broke out in a wide smile. "Have a nice day, I wish you a wonderful time in the dress."

Caroline smiled back. "Thank you." Then she turned around and left the shop.

As soon as she was out of sight she allowed the anger back in.

As much as she wanted to calm down she just felt like snapping Elena's neck.

How the hell was she gonna get hold of another dress?

This was prom, she didn't just want _any_ dress. She wanted to look like a queen, she wanted a dress so beautiful that everyone would look at her, only her, and not Elena.

Instantly, her mind went back to that one day when she had felt that way. Like a princess, in a dress so stunning she had been impressed by her own reflection.

She chewed on her lower lip.

_Klaus_.

If anyone did, Klaus would have a dress that fit her requirements.

And he would happily give it to her.

But wasn't this a little off? She didn't have to remind herself why but then her mind went right back to the way he had smiled, genuinely happy, when she had seen him last time. _Friends_. She felt a pull in her stomach and gulped, halting her furious pace towards her car.

Friends? Was that really what they were now?

Could she just drop by and ask him for a dress?

She thought for a moment, staring down at the pavement beneath her feet.

To her shame, she _wanted_ to be friends with him.

She'd seen another side of him, a side that none of her friends had seen, except for maybe Stefan. And just when she had thought it was gone she had seen it again. She should have turned her back on him ages ago, but for some reason she just couldn't.

Maybe she could really do it, save him. Find a way to a place in him that was kind, merciful, _human_. She was still torn about the question whether that really existed. But she had a chance and she should take it.

Maybe one day that would make him stop chasing Tyler.

But that wasn't all there was. She also really wanted to see it. He was lonely. Granted, that was pretty much definitely his own fault, but still. He wasn't happy in the place he was and she had a chance to make it better. Not only for him but for everyone around him.

Yes, they were friends. At least for now.

And Elena was a bitch that deserved to get her neck snapped. Just a little.

And she needed a goddamn dress, so fabulous that it would blow everyone away.

A wide smile spread across her face and she got into her car.

The Mikaelson mansion it was.


	4. contradictions

_Anonymous asked you: Hi, can you write a drabble were caroline cant sleep so she gets out of bed and finds a book with a few of klaus' drawings and then she makes a drawing in the book, (they are a couple)_

_Thank you so much for that wonderful request, I hope you like it. :)_

* * *

She was drifting in and out of sleep.

She knew it was sleep, she had read it somewhere but it didn't feel like it. Her thoughts kept drifting off, turning into half-dreams that she could remember and control and then she was awake again and it seemed impossible to turn this into the kind of deep sleep she was craving.

It was nice for some time, a little like floating and she enjoyed the softness of the sheets against her skin and the warmth of his arm draped possessively across her stomach.

She turned towards him and spend a while watching him sleep, his body relaxed and his expression peaceful. Something rare. Even for her.

Glad to have the chance she eyed him thoroughly.

His disheveled hair, his long eyelashes, his prominent cheekbones, his full lips, the strong line of his jaw. His masculine neck, the moles that she had long since memorized, his toned chest.

He looked so calm and so _human_. He was a living, walking contradiction.

It was one of the things she loved and hated about him in equal measure.

When he said the most cruel and vile things his eyes would always betray him.

When he killed his movements were always controlled and elegant.

When he talked to his siblings she could feel how much he loved them, it almost radiated off of him, yet he mistreated and hurt them every chance he got.

When the beast in him was the most visible, he never failed to accentuate it with some sophisticated remark.

When he was passionate and rough there was always some part in his movements that was gentle and affectionate.

She'd come to the conclusion that this was the most distinctive, the core part of who he was.

She sighed and decided to get out of bed.

She was awake now, there was no way to fall asleep.

Carefully she placed his arm back on the sheets, wriggling out of his grasp.

Then, slowly and silently she lowered her naked feet to the ground and rose, leaving the room.

He wouldn't wake if she was calm – he'd hear a stranger approaching the house, even a vampire and most definitely anyone that moved around the house if it wasn't her. She'd tried this several times before. Somehow his subconscious could detect her.

It made her feel home and connected on a more primal level and she loved him for it.

It was a calm summer night and outside she could see the moon, giving the house a sense of eerie sanctuary stillness.

The wooden floor, the antique furniture with the array of accessories both of them had placed upon them (irritatingly enough their styles didn't clash but molded into one instantly), the expensive stuccoed wallpaper – all was draped in blue. The air was warm and she enjoyed the little bit of breeze the movement of her hair provided.

She was calm and open, ready to enjoy this moment in time.

But what should she do?

She decided to wander through the house, enjoying the fact that her footsteps were almost imperceptibly quiet. Moments like these had always been the time that she actually really enjoyed her vampirism. She was unable to sleep, walking through the house at night, like any other human does. But she was not human. Even now.

A smile crept up her lips as she let her feet guide her.

She climbed down the stairs, the fabric of her small dress rustling around her legs and enjoyed the familiar view of the extensive hallway and the garden outside, through the windows.

In the living room she poured herself a drink but she didn't feel like sitting down so she walked on until she reached his studio.

She'd been here many times before. She was allowed in every part of his life.

The room held many memories.

She knew each picture by heart and was always excited when she discovered new sketches or even a new canvas upon one of the easels. She loved watching the pictures grow, change, revealing things she'd never anticipated in previous stages.

He'd drawn and painted her here, dressed and naked.

He'd even taught her how to draw a little, a patient, focused teacher.

But there was something in this room that was still new to her.

She'd seen him drawing in it, once or twice but she had never seen what it actually was that he chose to retain in this book. He'd never shown her.

She opened the drawer he kept it in and pulled it out.

A very old book, yet held in very good shape, bound in simple black with a thin, golden line near the edge. She pulled it out of the plastic wrapping and sat down at his desk, switching on one of the table lamps and suddenly the center of the room was draped in a yellow warm light, contrasting with the blue of the night outside and the shadows the furniture casted.

She took a sip of her drink and then sat it down on the table beside her.

Okay, tonight was the night.

She didn't really know what to expect but she felt a pull of nervous anticipation in her stomach.

Slowly and carefully she opened it.

The first page was dark, almost completely black except for a few randomly placed light specks. But on second thought they weren't random at all. They formed figures, twisted and contorted almost into abstraction. No matter how she looked at it, from which angle or distance, it always seemed to be different, the lighter spots forming different bodies – if they could even be called bodies – and barely identifiable faces.

It was the creepiest picture she had ever seen. Bold, yet eerily subtle.

She frowned and took another sip. Then she turned the page.

On the left page there was a letter. Somehow the paper had been thinned into transparency and when she ran her finger over it had a wax-like texture.

A love letter.

A long, long time ago they had had one of their most intense fights about this. She'd really thought this was the end, that she couldn't possibly take this. But in the end she learned that she could and when they returned to his bedroom, making up again in a desperate frenzy she'd discovered that the frames had vanished. Now the wall was covered in pictures he'd made for her.

She'd always suspected he kept them somewhere.

On the right page there was the painted picture of a female corpse.

It was shocking because it was not.

She lay there almost peacefully, as if she was asleep. The only sign that something was wrong was her paleness and the blood on her neck. Her hands were clasped over her stomach as if she was being sent to rest. Her eyes were closed and her features were relaxed.

She took in a sharp breath and leaned back.

_'my dearest Josephine'_

She knew. _She knew_. Still.

She turned the page and was met with the same setting. She went on.

A letter and a picture. The writing style matched the picture and not all pictures looked the same. Some were men.

She halted when she turned the page and the picture she saw almost made her nauseous.

It was painted in red. There was nothing left that could have been identified as a person. Just blood and gore and fabric and _limbs_.

She turned her head and looked out of the window, her hand reaching for the glass.

She took a shaky gulp and closed her eyes for a minute.

Then she turned her head back to the picture.

She stared at it for a while longer and then turned the page, met with more and more letters and pictures. Finally, there was something else.

A list of names that went on and on for pages.

On the last page of the list there was something written in the right corner below.

_'the ripper'_

Her eyes widened. Stefan.

Gulping, she turned to the next page.

Katherine. On both pages there were pictures of Katherine, she could tell by her stance, the clothing and the dates written underneath it.

_15.07.1643_

_22.01.1689_

_09.04.1720_

It went on and on. In most of the pictures she was tense, her glance paranoid. In some she distinctively stared at something out of view, clearly frightened. An expression she couldn't remember ever seeing on her face. But the worst were those in which she looked relaxed, happy, _free_. Caroline knew that he always had an idea where Katherine was.

He'd been watching her, stalking her, leaving small, almost unrecognizable traces of his presence.

After that came another series of pictures the same person, a man she didn't know.

It ended with a picture of his corpse, heart ripped out of his chest and neck broken, his face contorted in a manner that suggested this hadn't been an easy death.

She gulped down the rest of her drink, turning the pages through seven more series' of that sort, all ending with a corpse in different stages of mutilation.

After that several pages were left blank.

And then there was a picture of Rebekah. Sleeping, no _lying in a coffin_.

Elijah, Kol, Finn, Esther. Even Mikael.

A boy that she supposed was Henrik.

She looked over her shoulder, almost fearing to see him standing in the doorway.

He had never told her not to look at it, never closed her off out of any part of his live.

But somehow she felt like a voyeur as if she might just not be welcome.

Then there were words. Words in different languages she didn't understand.

Finally, she found something English.

_The arrogance and ignorance of these people disgusts me, it brings no pleasure ripping the live from their chests._

_The only way I can attain a glimpse of what I want is if I destroy it._

_Religion disgusts me, humans dwell in the thought of being a slave._

_I will always remain alone._

Then there were pictures of people she didn't know.

And then there was a heart.

A heart clasped in a hand, veins still hanging off of it. It was drawn so realistically that she first thought it had to be photo.

A broken arm, bone sticking out of it, burned skin.

A glass container filled with red water and _vervein leafs_ and _bones, barely holding flesh_.

She jumped back on her feet, fortunately not making any noise.

This was sick, this was twisted.

She ran a hand through her hair, distraught. She knew, _she knew_.

She ran a hand over her mouth, massaging her lower lip and then poured herself some of the stronger alcohol he had placed on the table. She downed almost half of it.

The next page showed a picture of Elena.

Then Bonnie, Stefan, Damon, Tyler, Alaric, Jenna, Jules. She frowned.

There was the edge of a ripped out page.

And then everything changed.

The color scheme, the texture, the atmosphere.

There were pictures of her, pictures she didn't know.

Several of her on the night that he'd given her his blood for the first time, then one of her when Rebekah held her back while he was giving Tyler Elena's blood. A picture of her at homecoming, several of her at the Mikaelson's ball, pictures of her for every time they'd met back then, even some of instances she didn't even remember seeing him.

The images grew brighter and brighter every time.

There was one of her lying on the Gilbert's sofa, dying.

It was followed by a page completely covered in black.

Then, more of this. He'd drawn every moment he had with her, up until the day she'd told him she wanted to give this a chance.

Then there were several blank pages.

Next she was met with corpses again, corpses of people she knew.

Damon's corpse, severely mutilated, Elena's corpse, Bonnie's corpse, Carol's corpse, Jule's corpse, Matt's corpse, Tyler's corpse, one of his hybrid's corpse, Alaric's corpse, _her father's corpse_. She gasped, staring down at the pages.

He hadn't killed most of these people, this was purely fictional.

These were the dead bodies of all the people that had ever hurt her.

The people he'd promised not to harm for her.

She couldn't look at the picture of her father, it hurt too much. It almost felt like betrayal, but this was not for her eyes. This was just in his mind. There was no such thing as thought-crime.

She turned the page, skipping over a few blank ones.

Then she halted, blushing instantly.

She was definitely not prude but this caught her off-guard.

There were pictures of her, again, in compromising positions. _Very_ compromising, and clearly sexual positions. Parts of her body she'd never seen before were very visible to her now and she had to look away, downing the rest of her drink, starting to feel a little dizzy.

Some of them also featured him but never in the center.

She gulped again as she found the more explicit ones and felt a heat pooling in her lower stomach.

Okay, yes, he was shameless.

And yes, this turned her on.

A lot, actually.

They'd had sex before they'd gone to sleep and she still felt the touch of his hands on her body.

But the weight of the things she'd seen earlier turned it into something else. It felt forbidden, eerie, dark. And to her surprise, she liked it.

She skimmed through the rest of the book, finding that it was empty.

Except for one picture, a picture of her smiling, happy and genuinely.

She even remembered it, it had been in Barcelona, the day she'd told him she loved him.

She closed the book and leaned back into the chair, staring vacantly into empty space.

So this was it, the side of the person she loved, that she rarely saw.

She'd known it was there, suspected it to be dark and horrendous, intimidating. He rarely scared her anymore, even when he was angry. He'd never hurt her, he couldn't, she knew that.

She was even able to stop him from hurting other people when she was around.

But that other side was still there, lingering under the surface, striking whenever it was needed.

And dark, it was bloody, gory, perverse, terrifying.

But somehow, she just couldn't bring herself to hate it, fear it, never completely. After all, it was half of the medal, half of the contradiction that she loved so much.

She took a deep breath and decided on what to do.

Silently she sneaked up the stairs, to her study, the room she kept her desk and her things in. She pulled out a photo album. There was a picture she'd taken of him, one on which he was genuinely laughing.

Laughing in a manner that was almost out of character, that didn't seem to fit the monster that stalked, tortured and killed. The side of him that only she was allowed to see.

She took it downstairs and returned to his study, choosing a pencil.

Then she placed it on the page beside the picture of her and held the page against the light.

_'Never be ashamed to do whatever it takes to improve you technique, especially as an apprentice. There is no cheating in art, there are no rules, only the ones you make.'_

Focused, she lined out the outlines. She wanted the picture to be in proper proportions.

She had never been a good painter, but she was not bad either and she had learned a lot from him.

Then she put it down and did the details, the photo lying beside her as reference.

When she was finished she sat back, smiling. Not nearly as good as his, but good enough.

She poured herself another drink and drank it, staring at both of the pictures.

Then she closed the book, placing it back in the plastic wrapping and then back where he kept it.

When she went upstairs, first she put the photo back where it belonged.

When she returned to the bedroom she couldn't help but smile down on him.

He was still fast asleep, arm draped over her side of the bed as if it was searching.

This was the man she loved.

She climbed back in, gently wrapping his arm around her waist as she lay down facing him.

She was tired now.

Yawning silently, she closed her eyes and fell asleep, happy to be waking up in his arms tomorrow.


	5. contradictions II

_Anonymous asked you: That Drabble you posted about Caroline and drawing in Klaus' drawing book. Could you by any chance continue it but in Klaus' POV where he goes to draw in his book and finds the drawing that Caroline drew? :)_

_here you go love, i died of feels writing this._

* * *

His hunger for death and destruction had decreased rapidly ever since he had her.

Granted, it was still there, pent-up inside, but it wasn't as violently untamed as it had been before. The one thing he had learned through the years with her was to take it out on the right target.

His position of king required him to generate loyalty in his underlings, using both charm and fear to his advantage, manipulating them into whatever position he desired. That took care of some of it.

Of course the feeding did, too, as it always had.

He was no saint and she knew it. Well, she had never seen the full extent of it, but still.

Most of the times she was enough to quench his thirst, in every way.

But sometimes, rarely, there came a time when he needed a reminder of who he was. Of the demon lingering inside him, always ready to take over in case he needed to. He had been abandoned, betrayed, deceived for a thousand years.

She made him vulnerable and he had found his peace with but still – just in case.

He needed to be safe. So the monster in him was ready to return and take over, just in case.

God forbid, he would never be able to hurt _her_, even if she left him, even if she betrayed him, even if (just if) all of this had been nothing but a farce, not at this point in time.

But the rest if the world would suffer. He'd wreak havoc on everyone involved, on everyone he met, take it out on everyone that had ever wronged him (at least those that could still be counted among the living).

Sometimes he needed to take a look at the beast, to revel in the darkness, just to see that it was still there. And today was one of those days.

So he took out the book from where he kept in and carefully pulled it out of its plastic wrapping.

There was a reason why he kept it there, hidden, but not out of her reach.

In the beginning of their relationship his main objective had been to woo her, to convince her that he was right for her, good enough for her. He'd only shown her his best side, tried to give her everything she desired, bent over backwards for her in a way that even now a part of him could only call foolish.

At some point that had changed.

At some point his perspective had shifted. The thought had entered his mind that maybe he wasn't.

She was so full of light, radiating beauty and a peculiar sense of untouchable purity – although she was most definitely not to be considered any kind of 'pure' in the bedroom – that startled him.

Over the years she had grown accustomed to killing if it was necessary. It came with the lifestyle they led – it was unavoidable sometimes. And he'd watched in awe how easy it had been for her to just turn off the remorse. To just accept the facts.

She'd also started feeding on humans – mostly willing ones nonetheless, in a compulsion free manner, always providing them with a bit of her blood in return. If she ever left him Damon Salvatore would be the first to get a taste of his long since abandoned torture-preferences.

She reveled in being a vampire.

And despite this, despite the look in her eyes when she fed with blood shooting up under her eyes (something that made him go hard right on spot, especially when she was feeding on him), how easily and effectively she killed and accepted that for a moment she liked it – the light remained.

The humanity, the pureness, it was an inextinguishable fire that seemed to grow with every bit of harsh, violent reality she was faced with, accepted as part of her and matured through.

She was a contradiction.

She was an addiction.

He could never have enough of her.

But the more he learned about her the more the doubt started creeping in.

She deserved better.

He'd put himself first, always, in every respect, especially when he wanted something as much as he wanted her.

But with her he couldn't.

There had been many instances that he'd tried to show her, show her what he was truly like.

The beast, the monster, the killer, the ruthless and merciless demon.

And each time he'd expected her to leave. Instead she'd stayed, every time.

And at some point he'd stopped.

The thought never left his mind, though.

So he kept the book where he did, randomly making its existence known to her from time to time, to give her one last chance to escape.

One day she'd find it. And when she'd leave without any explanation he'd know why.

So when he turned the page to see her smile his world shattered around in him in one swift instance.

There was a drawing.

There was a drawing _she_ had done, he recognized her style instantly, the lines those of an amateur, but a perfectionist one.

A drawing of him.

He couldn't move, staring down at the paper, unable to process the information.

_She was gone_.

She'd been there this morning.

She'd woken up beside him.

He'd seen her minutes ago.

Instantly he rushed to her room, throwing open her door in a careless, violent motion, making it shake in its angles.

She jumped in shock, on her feet instantly, looking at him.

Then she frowned.

"Nik, what's wrong?"

_She was still here._

He didn't move.

_He had to be hallucinating._

She approached him, her frown deepening. "Nik, what happened?"

He stared down at her hand as she placed it on his arm and then back at her face, for once lost for what to do.

"You saw it," he heard himself say, his voice distant, like an echo in his own head.

She looked at him questioningly, then suddenly, realization hit her and a small, knowing smile spread on her face.

She placed her other hand on his chest.

"Yes."

He didn't move.

"When?"

Her smile didn't falter.

"A few months ago."

_A few months ago. _She'd known for _a few months._

"You're still here."

She nodded, raising her hand to his cheek.

"Yes."

The word echoed in his mind and he seemed unable to place its meaning. No matter what scenario he'd imagined, this hadn't been a possibility. His mind had to make room for it but it fought against the idea, desperately. Deep, primal fear shook him. _No_. _This couldn't be a possibility_.

If he let her in now, if he took this final step, there wouldn't be a way to recover as soon as she left him.

If he did as much as entertain the possibility he'd be lost forever if he failed.

"Why?"

She let out a small laugh, pulling his face down to hers and he could feel her breath on his lips.

"Why wouldn't I be? I thought you knew me better than this. A little blood and gore is nothing I can't take."

He wanted this to be real, more than anything he'd ever wanted.

He shut down.

_No._

Immediately, all the emotion drained from his face, his head, his soul.

He took a step back, away from her touch.

"No," he said, his voice clear and hard. "You have to leave."

Her eyes widened, the frown returning to her face.

"Take whatever you want, leave now," he said, turning on his heels to leave the room.

"**Are you fucking kidding me?!**"

He heard her voice behind him, it didn't reach him.

She caught up with him, attempting to drag him back, grasping his arm but he didn't move an inch, shaking her off and continuing his path out of the room.

"**You fucking bastard! Is that what you've been doing the whole time? Trying to get rid of me? Is that what you're doing?**"

He turned towards her. Her face was contorted in anger.

"Yes. I've grown tired of you." Despite himself the words cut into him like a blade but he kept it off of his expression and out of his voice. He forced a menacing smirk onto his face, raising his eyebrows. "Look, love, it's been entertaining. You're not that bad of a lay. But every good time has its end so would you please stop throwing a tantrum and leave before I have to make you."

She stared up at him, shocked again.

"_I can't believe this_," she whispered, barely audible.

Then, suddenly, she laughed, almost manically.

"Am I supposed to start crying and run out of here, out of your life, like a little girl with hurt feelings? Am I supposed to actually _believe this_?" she laughed again. He didn't move.

Then she shook her head, smirking up at him. Suddenly she moved, pushing him forward but he didn't budge again.

"**You fucking bastard! You little insecure piece of shit! You were actually going to ruin all we have because of your stupid man pain!**"

She was not going to get through to him. He had to end this situation, now.

"**You're a fucking thousand years old and you're gonna let ME be the adult in this, seriously?!**"

She laughed again, then grabbed his face with her hands, yanking it down roughly, staring into his eyes.

_She was not going to get through to him_.

She smiled at him and it this moment she was more of an adult, more of a woman than he'd ever seen in anybody.

"I am not going to let you throw this away."

_Love is a vampire's greatest weakness_.

"Or are you seriously trying to tell me that I am not worth it? I know why you do this. You think you're doing this for me, but in fact you're doing this for _yourself_."

Her hand started caressing his face and as much as he wanted to rip it away he couldn't bring himself to move.

"You're afraid that I will leave, that I will hurt you."

He felt his defenses cracking, desperately he tried to regain his composure but he found that he couldn't. He knew his face betrayed him and the primal fear found its way in again.

She shook her head softly, smiling softly.

"Niklaus Mikaelson, I love you and I will stay with you, forever."

_No_.

"Now get that into that stupid infantile head of yours and be the man I know you are."

She raised her lips to his and the moment he felt her touch his shield broke and this time he knew it was beyond repair.

Despite himself he felt a single tear roll down his cheek and his hands moved on their own, grabbing her, pulling her into him with so much force that he was afraid he would break her.

The spell was broken.

And instinctively he knew his mind had already made space for what should have been his long ago.


	6. goodbyes

_Hi can you write a drabble where Klaus invites Caroline to leave to new Orleans with him? You can chose how it ends :)_

_warning: smut!_

* * *

She was way past denial.

Too many things had happened in a too short amount of time – something she was getting used to by now, the craziness that was her life.

Bonnie was dead.

Silas had been defeated, the rise of the dead had been deflected and Elena had turned into a monster.

Elena had killed Bonnie.

The world had been shattered beyond repair, everything had been turned upside down, the pain was unbearable to take.

She just wanted to get out.

And somewhere along the way, in the midst of all this she had kissed Klaus.

Now the storm had settled, the battle was over but it was still raging violently in her head.

Everything felt different now, she didn't even recognize the town she'd been living in her whole life, the people she'd been calling her friends, her enemies, herself.

She was sitting in Klaus' living room now, staring off vacantly while sipping on a glass of bourbon she'd poured herself.

She'd been in his house so many times now, used to enter without even bothering to knock. This would have seemed unthinkable a few weeks ago but nothing was how it used to be anymore and she was past trying to fix it.

Instead she just accepted everything that came her way as a given.

She was someone else now.

He entered the room, seemingly not surprised by her presence and sat down in an armchair across from where she was sitting after getting himself a drink, too.

They sat in silence and she stared down into her glass. It wasn't an awkward silence, though, it just was.

"I'm going back to New Orleans," he said, looking at her.

She raised her head, meeting his gaze.

Okay. That made sense.

"Come with me." The look in his eyes turned intense, confident as always, yet almost pleading.

She shook her head.

"No."

His expression didn't falter and she looked back down at her glass.

The silence spread again.

She should probably explain herself.

"I'm going to leave town," she said. "I need to get out of this place, away from these people."

She looked back up at him.

"But not with you. Not with anyone. I need time on my own."

He stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

"I need to find myself a place, something, I don't even know what, on my own. I need to be away from all this, from everyone. I will travel the world, got to places, do things. Be myself, whoever that is. I don't even know anything anymore, not what I want or who I am or who my friends are. All I know is that I need to do this."

He licked his lips, nodding.

"That sounds fairly viable."

He leaned back into the armchair, taking a sip of his drink, then swayed it elegantly in his hand. His gaze never left hers.

"You have a lot of potential, Caroline, and you're not going to be able access it in this town. The people you call your friends – they are not deserving of you."

She raised her eyebrows.

"But you think you are?"

He smirked. "Perhaps."

She scoffed. "Look, love. My offer still stands. Do what you have to do. But know that you can show up at my door any time you want. When are you leaving?"

She scowled, looking down at her drink again.

"As soon as possible."

He nodded, sighing. "I see."

Then he sat down his glass and got up, gaze still fixed on her and strode over to the sofa, seating himself beside her.

She turned her head towards him, frowning.

He smirked and then leaned in, cupped her face with one hand and kissed her.

Her eyes widened at first but then she closed them and responded.

All the reasons not to seemed to have disappeared into thin air by now. And as she had learned last time, Klaus was a very good kisser – which was kind of an extreme understatement.

She opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to enter and he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer.

She sighed, leaning into his touch. His kiss was firm, yet gentle and she realized it was exactly what she needed.

His hand moved to her shoulder, pushing her to sink into the sofa. Then his mouth left hers and he started trailing kisses down the line of her jaw and her neck, his fingers playing with her hair as she arched her head back.

"Any chance I can convince you to postpone your leaving until tomorrow and stay the night?" he mumbled against her skin.

She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, trying to concentrate while he continued his ministrations. Maybe she should. It sure as hell sounded as a good idea right now.

One night really wouldn't make much of a difference.

She grinned to herself.

"I guess. But I don't really feel like talking."

He drew back, raising his eyebrows in surprise. Then he smirked. "Any ideas how to spend the time, then?"

She laughed. "I'm sure you're creative enough to come up with something."

His smirk drew but his eyes darkened. "Yes, I think I am. Remove your shirt."

She'd never heard him talking like that before. He'd always been careful, polite with her. Now she knew he had always been holding back.

She'd been, too and right now she realized she actually liked this. She'd given herself permission to do what she actually wanted to do and he had been waiting for her.

She raised her eyebrows. "How about you remove yours first?"

He smirked. "I think we have a conflict of interests that we need to resolve," he said, leaning forward and taking off her shirt.

She retaliated and in an instant they were both shirtless, staring at each other while grinning.

"If that was your idea of spending the night instead of talking I think I'm pretty disappointed," she giggled.

He smirked, a devilish glint in his eyes and bent forward, pushing her back onto the sofa, kissing her again.

She sighed and lay back, placing her hands on his back, roaming his torso while he didn't waste no time to place his on her breasts.

She closed her eyes and surrendered to the tingling sensation in her chest. Butterflies.

His hands moved behind her back to unclasp her bra and she let him. Wow, a man who could actually master the mystery of the bra-clasp.

She giggled and he smiled at her, then dipped down his head to kiss and touch her breasts.

She moaned. Then she felt his stubble tickle her skin and she giggled again.

His hand moved to cup her between her legs and the giggle got stuck in a sharp breath.

He smirked at her and then kissed her again, his hand working on the zipper of her shorts. Then, he'd pulled them down, along with her panties.

Then he kissed her again.

She broke away. "You have an unfair advantage again," she remarked.

He chuckled and then suddenly she was off the sofa, in his arms bridal style.

"What the hell are you doing?"

He smirked down at her. "Taking you where you belong."

And then everything went blurry and the next thing she knew was that she was being dropped on a bed. He was standing beside her, smirking down at her, shamelessly checking her out up and down.

"I certainly didn't expect this to happen so soon," he said and looked at him in a feigned mocking expression.

"So you 'expected' this to happen? Cocky much?"

He chuckled. "You like it."

"Yes," she admitted, smiling, "but I still won't take your shit."

"Well, you know, that's one of the things I like about you."

Then he removed his own pants and was with her on the bed, suddenly. The perks of being a vampire.

He kissed her again and his hand found the spot between her legs and the conversation was definitely over.

She leaned back, sighing. It felt so good, letting go, doing something she hadn't even considered a possibility before. Something she actually wanted and had forbidden herself to do.

All her life she'd been trying to do what was expected, to be liked, so much that she had engrained it into the deepest part of her personality. Loyalty, morals. She'd always thought that this was what she was. But she'd been wrong. These were things one chose, not part of someone's personality.

And now that the world she'd so desperately worked for had crumbled and vanished beneath her for the first time she saw that there was _so much more_.

He quickened his movements and her breath hitched in pleasure.

He licked his lips, staring down at her, mesmerized.

She'd never been looked at like that before, with so much adoration and lust.

She came undone and it was freeing, being able to do this without holding back, without being ashamed. It was impossible to feel inadequate when someone looked at you like this.

"You're beautiful," he said and she laughed, turning them around, pinning him beneath her.

She locked her lips with his and she felt his arms slide around her.

Then she was pinned beneath him again and she felt him preparing himself.

She stilled in anticipation and then, suddenly, in one swift motion they were joined.

They moaned in unison and then he started moving and she felt the pleasure growing again.

His thrusts were like his kisses, firm but gentle and she wondered if his amount of skill had to do with his age.

A thousand years of experience.

Then coherent sense fled her mind as they moved against each other and bliss overcame her, slowly, slowly building, climbing higher.

He grunted, eyes fixed on hers and although she wanted to close hers she found that she couldn't.

"Bloody hell, Caroline." His voice was strained and she smirked smugly before she let out a moan herself and lost her own composure again.

This was pretty much the best sex she'd ever had. With all her control freak tendencies she'd never been able to let go completely up until now.

He quickened his pace and at the sounds he let out she felt herself climbing towards another high again.

He kissed her again, passionately and then lowered his lips to her ear, kissing her just beneath it.

"_Now, love_," he whispered.

That was her cue to come again and she felt her whole body go numb with the intensity of the sensation. She felt him join her and a complete feeling of bliss filled her.

He rolled off of her, pulling her to lie beside him and then pulled them covers over them.

She snuggled up against him and enjoyed the fact that there was no regret whatsoever left.

He was smiling, not smirking, a genuine smile.

She returned it and she found herself in another moment she'd never even considered a possibility before. It was like traveling a place no person had ever set foot on before.

She was free.

But she wasn't there yet; there were still some things she needed to get done first. This was just the start of a journey and she would be an idiot if she'd stop now.

Somehow the death of her old world had only allowed her to try and find where she really belonged.

"You're not going to vervein me and lock me in somewhere, are you?" she joked, yawning.

He grinned. "Do you want me to?"

"No!" she answered, playfully hitting his chest.

He smiled. "Then I won't."

She rolled her eyes and he leaned in, kissing her softly.

Then he pulled back and pulled her in farther. "_Sleep now_," he whispered and she complied, closing her eyes and relaxing in his arms.

Yes.

Tomorrow was an important day after all.

* * *

She awoke in an empty bed.

First she checked her emotional status – no, no regret.

Then she got up and to her surprise she found her clothes, neatly folded on a chair near the bed.

She shook her head and then slipped into them, getting ready to leave the room.

Where was Klaus?

She walked down the stairs and into the living room. He entered from the room beside it.

"Good morning, sweetheart," he said and she smiled.

He handed her a glass filled with blood and she was thankful for his mindfulness. She was thirsty.

She sat down on the sofa and started drinking.

He sat down in front of her.

"I've made a few arrangements."

She raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Where do you want to travel to," he asked, his tone serious.

She frowned. "Uhm, I don't know."

"Anything. Anywhere you want. Just tell me."

She thought for a moment. "Europe. Spain."

He nodded. "How about Barcelona?"

She smiled. "So you want to buy me the ticket."

He nodded. "Yes. I also have this for you." He handed her a credit card.

"It has no limit, buy what you want."

Her eyes widened in shock as she frowned down on it.

_What?_

He took out a piece of paper and scribbled something down on it, then he handed it to her.

"The first number is a direct connection to me, free of charge, no matter where you call from. The second number belongs to an ally in England, the third to one in Russia, the fourth to one in Japan, the fifth one to one in Peru. The last number belongs to one in Barcelona. If you have any kind of problem just tell them your name and they are going to be helping you out."

Her frown deepened.

"Try to stay away from the supernatural, there are many dangerous people out there."

She shook her head and dropped both on the table.

"No."

He raised his eyebrows.

"Geez, I thought _I_ was the control freak. I'm doing this for _me_, do be _independent_. I really don't need a fucking babysitter. You can keep all of that."

He frowned. "It's not safe."

She scoffed. "I am a vampire. I will manage."

He scowled. "I don't think you comprehend just how violent and rough this world is, especially to a young woman such as you. You are taking the phone numbers with you. You don't need to call, just in case anything happens."

She shook her head.

"Look, I can't promise you that I will come back. I don't want to be in your debt."

She saw a flash of hurt in his eyes but then it vanished again.

"You're not. Just take the numbers."

She sighed. "Fine." It might be a good idea to have some kind of protection if she needed it.

"But you will keep your money."

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "If that is your wish."

She nodded.

"But you will let me buy you the ticket."

She sighed. "Okay."

He smiled and she couldn't help but smile back. She finished the rest of the blood in one slug and then got up on her feet.

"I guess I'll get going, then."

He got up to. "Well, then let me take you to the door."

Both of them walked in silence and she realized that a part of her would be missing him. It already did.

When they were at the door he bent down and pulled her close again, kissing her.

She sighed and responded, suddenly not too eager to leave.

But then she broke away. She needed this.

She smiled.

"Thank you."

He nodded, smiling a sad smile back at her.

"Be safe."


	7. phone call

_here, have a treat to stomach this episode_

* * *

There was a new message on her phone, a voicemail.

She'd just gotten out of the shower. Of course she'd heard it ring with her vampire-hearing but she'd decided to let it go to the voicemail because seriously – she wouldn't let anybody interrupt her beauty-routine.

She frowned and let it run, holding it to her ear.

"_Caroline_,"

_Klaus_. Why would he call her? He hadn't found Tyler, had he? No, he wouldn't be calling her then. Maybe he needed help with something.

"_I'm standing in one of my favorite places in the world surrounded by food, music, art, culture and all I could think about is how much I want to show it to you."_

Her stomach dropped and she sat down on her bed.

_Oh_.

So Klaus was gone.

And he was thinking about her.

_"Maybe one day you'll let me._"

Her eyes widened and she let the phone fall in her lap.

'_Perhaps one day, in a year or even in a century you'll turn up at my door and let me show you what the world has to offer.'_

He was still onto that, then.

She sighed.

Of course she wouldn't. He'd driven Tyler out of town, actually killed Elena back then. She couldn't even come up with the whole list of what he'd done right now.

But despite herself, she _wanted_ to.

There was a part of him she really, really liked.

The man that she'd spent time with in front of the Mystic Grill, on the day of Miss Mystic Falls, the man who'd just given her the most beautiful dress she'd ever worn, without asking for anything in return.

Her stomach dropped again at the memory of the way he'd laughed when she'd come to him to ask for it.

They were friends now.

_Friends_.

Yeah, maybe, in some way, it was alright to want this. She wouldn't have to act upon it but it was okay to let the thought in.

'_Surrounded by food, music, art, culture_'

Again, she felt the pulling sensation of wanting to get out of this town. It had been building for some time now, ever since he'd first fed her his blood. She _wanted_ nothing more than to see the world, explore what it had to offer. See New York, LA, _Rome, Paris, Tokyo_. Talk to all kinds of people, try all kinds of food, watch shows and listen to music she'd never heard before. She wanted to see architecture, beautiful landscapes, art, all kinds of art.

She'd been on trips before, never far away, but she'd always love the feeling. In some way it felt like being reborn, getting out of the usual trot and into a new world, full of new people, new sights, new _chances_.

It even corresponded with the wishes she'd had when she'd been nothing but a blonde control freak cheerleader. Go to all the cliché places, take photos, arrange them in perfectly designed scrapbooks.

But now she wanted even more.

She wanted to _live_.

As much as she tried to fight it, this town just brought her down. Ever since the Salvatores had arrived everything had gone down the drain.

Hell, no, Mystic Falls most definitely wasn't boring anymore.

But in some way it was almost always the same kind of shit going down in a new way. She'd always have to be afraid for someone's life, there was always some loss she had to find a way to deal with.

And she was tired of it.

She knew she could get out on her own, after graduation.

But there was an ever-growing part of her that just wanted to do it with him.

She wondered where exactly it was that he was at.

Had he left them alone with Silas? Maybe it was just a trip.

She gulped.

She missed him, a little. Friends _do_ miss each other – do they?

'_Maybe one day you'll let me_.'

Her hand clasped around her phone.

Maybe one day, she would.


	8. confessions

_Hi I was wondering if you could write a drabble where Caroline and Klaus are a couple and she tells him she loves him for the first time. Thank you so much _

_request by ifancyklarolinexx_

_there you go, love :)_

* * *

He was seething. She'd never seen him this mad before.

"You _told Elijah_?"

She scoffed. No, she would definitely not let him intimidate her.

"I didn't really have a choice, you know. You know I'm a bad liar – and also, you should have told him yourself! You can't keep treating your sibling like that, it's no wonder they distrust you," she blurted out, getting angry herself.

He took a deep breath but his eyes were still rabid.

Then he took a threatening step forward, his upper lip almost curled up in a snarl.

"How I _treat_ _my family _is _my business_."

She scoffed again, taking a step forward herself.

"Yeah, and obviously you've been very successful with your strategy."

He cocked his head to the left, obviously trying to control his anger.

"It is _none of your business_."

She threw her arms out in an exasperated gesture. "Yeah, and you think it's gonna work that way? You keep me in the dark about the things that really bug you and only tell me if I pry it out of you! You think that's how a relationship's supposed to work?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, taking another deep breath.

"Because it _doesn't_, you know?"

He clenched his teeth. "Well, obviously you have proven yourself not to be trustworthy. Why would I tell you _anything_ about my personal matters _anytime_ in the future?"

Her stomach dropped. _Not trustworthy_.

She shook her head, trying to regain her composure.

"How can you say that? How can you even think that? You have to give me a **fucking chance** before you decide that shutting me out is the right way!"

"**I gave you a chance! And you failed**!" he barked at her, the veins on his neck clearly visible.

"**Because you were wrong and I wanted to help you!**"

"**I don't need your help! I don't need anybodies help!**"

She took a step closer, almost snarling herself.

"Yeah? Well, you're a fucking social case. You're running around constantly destroying everything you care about until you push it away far enough that it leaves you!"

His teeth clenched and she saw that she had hit home.

For a moment she was genuinely afraid.

Then he gave her one more intense look and turned on his heels, leaving the room, throwing the door shut behind him with such violence that it shook in its angles.

The anger quickly faded and was instead replaced by a feeling of loss and sadness, creating an uncomfortable pull in her stomach. She had to fight tears rising in her eyes.

She couldn't cry here, not with him in the house to hear her.

She'd sleep at a hotel tonight.

* * *

When she arrived at the hotel she threw down her bag on the floor and let herself fall on the bed, finally allowing the tears to rise again.

It was so fucking difficult being with him. It was either heaven or hell.

When they were good, when things worked out and he was in a good mood he was gentle, affectionate, so enamored with her that it gave her butterflies every time. It was the best thing she'd ever experienced.

But sometimes he'd just shut her out and these were always the times she knew better than him. And she knew that he knew it. He was like a stubborn child, trying to get his way simply by forcing it on her. And she wasn't having that. But most of all it hurt, not getting through to him.

There was a wall between them and she wasn't going to beg so there was no way to get through to him. It felt like being left out alone in the cold.

She buried her head in the pillow and sobbed quietly, for a moment letting the desperation overcome her.

She couldn't talk about this with his siblings, he'd hate it. She couldn't talk about this with anybody else.

And she couldn't talk about this with him.

But most of all she was afraid to lose him.

The thought was so terrible that she could barely even grasp the idea.

Maybe one day he'd push her away too far and then all this would be over, just because it was his nature, destroying the things he loved.

He would never destroy her, she'd always find a way to get up on her feet again. But still, she just did not want to lose this.

Yes, she'd made a mistake today. First relationship rule _'just because I tell you stuff doesn't mean you're allowed to know it.'_ – her very own words.

But she'd done it because she finally needed to talk about him _to someone_. She felt like she was going crazy otherwise. Also, she'd done it to _help_ him.

It wasn't that easy, she knew it, and she had kind of messed up.

But wasn't she allowed to make one little mistake when he was shutting her out all the time?

She continued sobbing, curling up in a fetal position until she finally fell asleep.

* * *

She awoke to a noise. Someone was in her room.

Immediately she shot up, into a sitting position, her eyes flying open to spot the intruder.

There was a figure standing before the bed.

_Klaus_.

She sighed in relief.

Then again, should she be relieved? She looked up at him, trying to make out his expression. What was he doing here?

He looked devastated, raw primal fear in his eyes, staring down at her as if he couldn't quite believe she was there.

She didn't move, suddenly feeling too exhausted to fight.

"_You left_," he whispered, not moving.

She frowned.

"_You left me_."

Her eyes widened. _What? No!_

She shook her head, shooting off the bed in one motion, towards him.

"No. No, I didn't."

He stared down at her, frowning but still in his trance.

"Then why are you here?"

She sighed.

"I just needed to get away for some time."

He seemed to be more in focus now.

"Why?"

She sighed again and sat down on the bed.

"It's just very exhausting sometimes, being with you."

Panic rose in his eyes again, but he gulped it down.

"What do you mean by that precisely?"

She closed her eyes for a moment. Did she want to have that talk right now? On the one hand she was tired. But he seemed so desperate and she really couldn't leave him like this. Also, she wanted nothing more than to be in his arms again. But it was a long way to get there.

She motioned for him to sit down beside her and he did, carefully.

"Sometimes you just shut me out." He looked at her, frowning, but trying to take in what she was saying. "And then I have no way to get through to you. And that hurts."

She saw another flicker of emotion in his eyes.

"And I can't even talk about it, to no one. Least of all to you. And sometimes that's just too much but I take it and take it and wait for it to get better and then I just make one single mistake and you throw a fucking tantrum."

His frown deepened.

"I can't do this anymore," she said, "not like this."

The panic rose in his eyes again.

"And what do you suggest I do about that?"

She turned towards him, raising her eyebrows.

Suddenly he leant forward, his thumb touching her cheek underneath her eye.

"_You've been crying_," he whispered, his voice raspy.

She sighed. Melted mascara, great.

"Yes." _You weren't supposed to see_.

"I'm sorry."

Okay, this came as a surprise. Apologies weren't exactly his speciality.

She shook her head and licked her lower lip. "Sometimes it's just like you are two different people. You might be nice right now but tomorrow you might just shut me out again."

He closed his eyes for a moment.

"I've never done this before. I don't know how to."

"It's not that difficult, really. You just have to let me in."

He gulped. "But every pore in my body screams for me to get away."

_Oh_. This was news. This was progress.

"So you're afraid."

He licked his lips and nodded.

"You don't need to be afraid of me. You can trust me."

He raised his eyebrows. "Can I, though? You could leave me tomorrow."

"That's **always** the case, with **everybody**! And no, I won't. At least not if you try and change this. I don't want to lose you. I am investing everything in this relationship and I don't want that to be all for nothing. But I can't keep living in misery."

There was water in his eyes.

After some time he finally pressed out some words.

"But you would. If I took it too far one day, you would leave."

She nodded.

"Yes."

She saw a tear stream down his face as he looked away.

"And if you loved me you would want that to me."

His eyes widened and he looked back at her.

She nodded. "Yes. You would want me to be happy, more than you would want yourself to be happy."

His frown deepened.

"You want me to want for you to leave me."

She rolled her eyes. "No, dumbass. I want you to stop wasting this relationship with your paranoia. I want you to care enough about making me happy to jump over your own shadow."

He stared back at her, motionless.

She looked down to her lap, then reached out and grabbed his hand in hers. He took a sharp breath and then their eyes met again.

"Because I do, you know. I want to make you happy. I love you."

His eyes widened and time stood still for a moment.

She'd said it, finally.

She hadn't planned on doing it now but somehow it had just fit.

She caressed his hand, reassuringly.

"So get your grip together and make this as good as it can be."

He broke out of his trance, then nodded and then suddenly he'd pulled her in, his lips on hers and his arms around her and with a sigh of relief she melted into him. He kissed her, gently but firmly and the butterflies took over again. Finally.

Then he drew back, and pulled her onto the bed, lying down beside her, facing her. He was back in control again.

"I love you, too."

A wave of bliss overcame her and she pulled him in for a kiss again.

Who would have thought that such a night could bring so much happiness in the end.


	9. burning bridges

I cannot let her die.

I cannot kill her.

This has never happened before, I harm all the people I love, it is what makes me who I am. I cannot. I cannot let her die.

I have broken my own rules.

This is not supposed to be happening. If I let her be my weakness I will fall.

Yet I cannot imagine a world without her in it. If I killed her I'd never live a happy day again. No, finding her and then losing her, that would be too cruel.

But this is not who I am. I am not merciful.

I cannot let her live.

But I have to, I am a selfish man, my own needs are priority above all. I need her to be alive.

She is the one exception that I hoped I'd never find. In fact, I didn't believe this to be possible.

Oh, I am foolish, so foolish to let her live.

But I did, I always will.

She needs to be protected, she needs to be well. She cannot suffer like this.

I have never hated myself as much as I did today.

This is not even an option.

I let _the boy_ win, that bloody little scoundrel, that teenager that thinks he can threaten _me_, _Kill. Me._

I let him win.

Because of her.

_Saved_.

I am not in need of salvation. I am not in need of anything.

I am a monster. I relish in being a monster. I don't need her.

And yet I do and she is not even mine.

And I have destroyed every bit of progress I had made. Only to fail.

Only to let her live, despite _myself_.

I need to control my temper, if I harm her again I will not be able to take it.

This is the last thing I need. _In this town. With these people. Ever._

I have burned this bridge, as I always do and now there is no way back.

She suffered because of me.

She was ready to die.

Twice.

I cannot lose her.


	10. drunken Caroline

_Klaroline drabble - drunken Caroline_

_I originally promised writing this while drunk but whatever. Having been drunk in the past was definitely an inspiration. ;) Enjoy, this is one of my favorites. _

* * *

„Drunk… as a skunk," she mumbled, frowning at her empty glass.

She hadn't gotten that drunk since before she became a vampire. She had basically downed half of the bar tonight (after compelling the bar tender to serve her) so it made sense. Wait – what?

Yeah, right. College sucked. Balls. It sucked balls.

She giggled and the bartender shot her a worried look.

"No, I'm alright. I'm alright," she said, awkwardly holding up her hand. "I'm one fuzzy ball of happiness." His frown deepened.

Then she leaned in and caught his eyes in compulsion. "I'm okay. You will serve me another glass of your scotch. I look perfectly fine to you. Like one fuzzy ball of happiness."

Then she released him, grinning brightly and he proceeded to fix her another drink.

As soon as he placed it in front of her, however, a hand reached out and took it from her.

Ready to protest she turned her head, maybe a little more furious than appropriate.

"_Fuck_," she said, her face falling.

Standing behind her was Klaus. Klaus with a very amused expression on his face.

"Excuse me?" he asked, his grin widening. Then he sat down on the stool beside her. "I think you've had enough for now."

Her face was still screwed in a mixture of disbelief and horror. She realized it and quickly tried to turn it into a somewhat neutral expression. She failed. And he chuckled.

"Thisss," she finally said, raising her eyebrows. "is a very, _very_ _bad idea_."

His smirk grew unbelievably wider.

Suddenly, the bartender interrupted.

"Excuse me, but you can't just steal her drink. She is perfectly okay. One fuzzy ball of happiness." Then he frowned, seemingly irritated by his own words.

Klaus face that had first turned hard at the interruption now broke out in laughter. He turned his head towards her, barely able to contain himself. "Oh love, you're priceless."

Then he turned his head back to the bartender, compelling him. "You will not serve her any alcohol anymore. Until I speak to you directly we don't exist for you."

The man nodded, then, released, frowned again and turned back to other customers at the other side of the bar.

She frowned, trying to process the information.

"What's wrong with fuzzy balls of happiness? I like that… I really like that."

He raised his eyebrows, grinning again.

"Now, love, would you mind telling me what made you put yourself into that state?"

Adorable… dimples… No!

"You should go!" she blurted out.

He cocked his head to the side. "Why?"

"Because you're a jerk," she said, trying to put conviction behind her words. "And I don't like jerks."

He didn't seem to feel insulted, just amused. "I beg you to specify."

"You're a psychopath!" she hollered. "Sociopath," he corrected, grinning.

"I don't care! You kill people!"

He looked around, seeing if anyone had heard her.

Trying to contain his amusement he leaned in closer. "Would you mind tuning down the volume a bit, love? I would very much prefer spending this evening without unnecessary bloodshed."

She could feel his breath on her face and she could _smell him_. She felt the sudden urge to just lean in and cuddle herself into these arms. No! Fucking, no no no **no**! What was he even doing here?

"Are you stalking me or what?" she asked, leaning back as far as she could, feeling slightly dizzy from the motion. "Whoops."

He raised his eyebrows. "How about we switch to a location requiring a lower amount of motoric skills." He pointed to a sitting boot off in a less crowded part of the room.

She frowned, staring at the point for a moment. Maybe, yes, but then again he shouldn't even be here. She shouldn't even be talking to him right now.

He was already standing, the drink in his hand, waiting for her with that stupid adorable amused expression.

She decided to just get off her seat and she succeeded. Triumphantly she took a few steps, of course stumbling over her heels at once. He caught her with his free hand, chuckling and proceeded guiding her to the boot. She flushed at the contact, trying to catch herself once again and then turned towards him angrily. "Don't do that!"

"Do what?" he asked, guiding her onto the sofa, sitting down beside her. Ugh. As if there weren't any other seats available. She shifted away a little, into the corner of the boot. He responded by shifting away from her a little, too. UGH. WHY. Why did he have to be so fucking considerate. That made it even worse.

"So are you stalking me?" she asked, placing her elbows on the table, glowering at him.

He shook his head. "No," he said. "Yes, I am here to visit you. There's a piece of information I'd like to share with you."

She frowned. "What information?"

He chuckled. "Not now, tomorrow. I am in this bar because it is the only place this petty excuse of a college town to get a drink." He took a sip of the scotch, scrunching his nose. "And not even a good one, apparently."

She frowned. Okay. This was probably a lie. Whatever.

"So, love, pray tell, why did you get yourself so drunk that you can barely hold yourself on your feet."

She glowered at him. "Thank you very much, asshole."

He chuckled.

"And what kind of insults do I have to throw at you to make you go away!"

He smiled. "Well, as of now I think your efforts have the contrary effect. You're adorable when pouting, sweetheart."

She blushed and then tried to get rid of it by getting angry again. "**Seriously?**"

He nodded, taking another sip of his drink, but never his eyes off her.

He was wearing a leather jacket and a Henley underneath it, that, as always – fucking bullshit, accentuated his sculptured chest. That she had seen naked. And sweaty.

"Ugh!" she blurted. Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

He chuckled again, raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner and she knew he had caught her.

"College is boring," she said, fixing her eyes on her hands, trying to switch the subject.

"Is that so?" he asked, his voice more serious now.

"The people are boring, classes are boring, everything is boring. I don't even wanna be here," she said, frustrated for a whole other reason now. Then she turned her head towards him. "But you can't take me seriously, I'm fucking drunk."

He smirked, although his overall expression was serious. He was leaning forward on his elbows, too, now. "I noticed."

She sighed.

"You can always go anywhere else you want, love. I could take you."

UGH. These words again.

"No!" she snorted and he sighed, defeated.

"Your choice."

She stared down at her hands, intensely now.

"I'm thirsty," she finally said.

"I could get you a glass of water," he said but she shook her head.

"No," she said. "I am _thirsty_."

He halted, cocking his head to the side to catch her eyes. He looked worried, yet intrigued.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice serious.

She frowned at him, thinking for a moment. Blood, delicious, warm, blood.

Before she could control it she could feel her vampire face emerge. Shocked, her mouth fell open for a moment and then she quickly shut it down again.

She immediately noticed the change in his stance.

His gaze was now feral, excited in a way that made her rather uncomfortable. _Very_ uncomfortable. Actually, rather very hot. _Stop it!_

She gritted her teeth and looked away.

He shifted in his seat and cleared his throat.

"Well, I suppose there is a way I could arrange that."

She listened, concentrating her gaze on a random place in the room.

"Since I don't think you'd appreciate me choosing someone to make a donation I can always offer you mine."

She turned her head towards him in one a little to swift movement, shocked.

"What?" she asked.

He smirked at her, raising his eyebrows, both mirth and familiarity in his gaze.

"I can offer you my blood."

Oh. God. Okay. Somewhere in the back of her mind a voice, very distinctively screamed: NO! – but a rather big part of her was beyond happy to take his offer.

The truth was that his blood was probably the best thing she'd ever tasted. In her whole life.

And tonight she'd come here with a _need_ for something, _anything_ to take her mind off her college-induced frustration.

This sounded very tempting.

But, no, no no no no. She blushed instantly, turning away from him, when she remembered. Being pulled flush against him, in his arms, his hand affectionately caressing her hair. No, no, no. This was the least smart idea ever.

He took his glass and downed all of its content in one big slug.

Then he turned towards her, out of sight of the other people in the room.

She looked at him, frowning. The proximity was unnerving her.

Suddenly, his face turned into hybrid-mode and he bit his wrist.

Her eyes widened. Oh.

Fascinated, she watched him. Why did she like watching this? Why did it – intrigue her like it did?

She couldn't take her eyes off him as he languidly guided his arm over the glass, filling it with the liquid without spilling any of it. Then he offered it to her, his eyes glinting at her while he licked the excess blood off his wrist.

_Oh_. _Fucking god_.

"There you go, sweetheart."

She gulped and took it.

She turned away from him, towards the table and then, without hesitating another second, took a huge gulp of it.

_Oh_.

This was probably the worst idea ever.

She felt his gaze on her and she decided to just get it over with, downing the rest.

The ecstasy.

Then she set down the glass on the table, sighing, closing her eyes.

He didn't make a sound.

She gulped again. "Thanks… I guess," she remarked awkwardly.

"Always," he said, his voice crawling under her skin.

She wanted a lot of things right now, most of which she was not supposed to want. So she pushed them down, her facial expression stressed and tense.

"How about I take you home now?" he asked and she quickly turned her head towards him.

Wait, what? Yes, **NO!** What the fuck?

He chuckled, throwing his head back. "Back to your dorm. I will take you back to your dorm and then spend the night in the hotel room I rented."

Her face was probably deep red in embarrassment. She looked away, glowering. "Yeah, what did you think? Jerk."

He chuckled, getting up and walked up to the bartender, paying probably a little too much. Was that a hundred dollar bill? Fucking showoff.

She got up herself, feeling herself sobering up a little. The perks of being a vampire.

He smiled when he walked back up to her and she turned towards the door. This time she was in no need of help in the motoric skill department.

When they were outside he spoke up. "Shall we take the car or is your dorm in walking distance?"

She shook her head. "Walking. And you really don't need to accompany me, I'm a vampire, god damnit."

"A very drunken one, though." He remarked, his arm brushing hers as if in accident but she knew better. He never did things in accident. Oh god, she needed to get away from this situation. It made her want things she didn't _want_ to want. No, no, don't go there.

They walked in silence, and she was glad about it.

"Caroline, there is something I need to ask you." Fuck.

She nodded, keeping her head straight on the ground before her.

"We _are friends_, are we?" he asked.

She turned to look at him, frowning. He looked back at her, his gaze serious.

"What – yes? I guess so, I don't know? There's the Tyler-thingy, you know."

He sighed exasperatedly, turning away.

"Also. You tried to kill me," she added, looking away herself. They were in front of the dorm now.

His eyes widened. He halted, his hand on her arm. She looked at him, turning serious herself. She was still dizzy and most definitely drunk. Was this a dangerous situation? Why had she said that? It didn't even bother her anymore. Or did it?

He licked his lips, there were a myriad of emotions crossing his face.

Finally he sighed. "I realize… I never apologized for that. It was… a mistake. Can you forgive me, Caroline?"  
She stared but at him, kind of overwhelmed. Then she felt the calmness return to her senses, the one that usually came over her when she was faced with this kind of situation.

"Maybe," she said.

He sighed and nodded, his gaze fixed on a vacant point and then back to her.

"We're here," he said.

She nodded, looking up at the dorm. "Yeah."

His stance relaxed a little and a small grin lit his face. "So – how do friends say goodbye, Caroline?" She looked at him, questioningly. "Do we shake hands? Do we-" _hug._

Ugh.

"Uhm," she mumbled, but before she could take control of the situation he had already pulled her into an embrace. Not a tight one, it was purely friendly put it had her blushing nonetheless. _Oh_.

It felt good. Very good. Too good.

"_Thank you Caroline, I had a very… entertaining evening. I will see you tomorrow_," he whispered in her ear. She shivered, her eyes falling shut for a second.

Okay, **now** this was definitely boundary-breaking.

But before she could even complain he'd released her and vanished into thin air.


	11. Bocel Drabble

_Bocel drabble (don't worry, the others will come, too)_

_Scenario: Marcel tries to take over New Orleans and Bonnie is one of the head witches in the city._

_I just couldn't not do it._

* * *

„Bonnie," he said, slowly halting in his steps staring down at her calm and calculatingly.

She glowered at him. "Marcel."

He stood a few steps before her, his stance giving no clue about the state of his mood.

She turned to leave, but he followed her. "Would you mind telling me what it is you're currently up to?"

She didn't answer.

"Look, problem is, anyone who did the stuff you are doing is dead, so – I really don't have much of a choice here, Bon," he was now half joking, a wide grin on his face but a menacing glint in his eyes.

She halted in her step abruptly and turned around, angrily staring him down.

"Yes, and why is that so? It seems like you're not afraid to kill my sisters but you won't kill me. What you're doing is **wrong**, Marcel. It's against the balance of nature."

He smiled down at her, raising his eyebrows. "Oh, she's talking."

She took a deep breath. "Leave me alone, _monster_," she hissed and turned to resume walking.

He followed her again, the grin still wide on his face. "Oh, come on, Bonnie. You don't leave me much of a choice here, do you _want_ to get _killed_?"

She halted again, her hair swooping over her shoulder as she turned, now really angry. "If you need to kill me to fulfill your stupid dictatorship-fantasies, then try. I won't let you."

He took a threatening step forward, the grin still wide on his face. "I don't give no second choices, babe."

Suddenly he was on the floor, his face contorted, holding his hands to his temples.

She stared down at him, breathing heavily. "Good, I don't either. Rot in hell."

Despite the pain he kept his eyes on hers, the murderous fire now very evident.

"Leave me alone. Leave the witches alone. We won't let you take over this city. _I_ won't let you."

Then she released him and turned to leave. He relaxed, getting up on his feet again.

She had her back to him, a walking target.

But he knew she did it with purpose, it was meant to provoke him, signal to him that she could do again what she'd done just now. That she wanted his respect.

A wide grin spread on his face. And he was just about to give it to her.

If there hadn't been other priorities.


	12. birthday

_the-carnivalesque asked you: I adore your Klaroline drabbles so much! Especially the one where she drew in his book :) Fantastic writing! It's my birthday and I was just wondering if I could request one, of Caroline's birthday celebrating it with Klaus and they are together :)_

_Happy birthday! :) Thank you so much, I hope this is not too late._

_There you go love. This is the longest drabble I ever did. Plus I got out of my comofrt zone in two respects - writing fluff and smut. I'm pretty happy with the result, though. :)_

* * *

They hadn't spoken for half a week.

There had been an incident.  
Elena and Damon had been visiting and he had almost killed Damon.

Despite her wishes. She'd dragged him off off him, completely silent and determined and sent Elena away when Klaus was still seething on the sofa, after Damon had just fled the living room. He was waiting outside for Elena, watching them as Klaus had his gaze filled with lethal intent fixed on him.

When they were gone she had screamed at him and he had screamed back because he was angry and raging and no one questioned his authority. She told him where to put his fucking authority and left the room.

They hadn't spoken since then, living beside each other like ghosts.

She knew it was hard for him. When he fought with people he fought hard, merciless, pushing them as far away as possible. He didn't with her. And she could see it in his eyes, the raging war.

He disappeared for most of the days and she did the same.

They still slept in the same bed, but instead of lying in the middle together both of them lay near the edges of the king size bed.

The longer it took, the angrier she got.

Tonight was her birthday. She forced herself not to be sad, she prepared herself for spending the day unhappy. She was able to adapt to anything. The neurotic control-freak Caroline was under control. This was just another day. She went to bed early, long before him.

* * *

She awoke because there was light in the room. He was sitting beside her on the bed, still dressed.

Something had changed. She got up on her elbows and looked up at him, suddenly awake.

He smiled down at her and then he leaned in, kissing her softly.

Relief rushed over her and although she should be angry she let it go for now, just a second.

Then he pulled back and leaned in to whisper in her hear, his hand on her shoulder. "Happy birthday, Caroline."

Her heart skipped at beat and she drew back to look at him, a small smile spreading on her face.

He looked relieved, too, licking his lips.

They didn't say anything, just looked at each other.

Then he leaned in again, kissing her more passionately now and she responded happily. His hands moved to the blanket, slowly pulling it off her while lying down beside her. She slipped in closer to him, turning in his direction and buried her hands in his hair, letting out another sigh of relief.

Oh, sweet, sweet making-up. She never thought she'd really lose him but being away from him and beside him at the same time had just been torturous.

She closed her eyes as he slid his hand under her negligee, pulling it up to her chest. Then he moved to kiss her jaw, then her throat and her neck, running one of his hands over her breasts.

She moved her hand underneath his Henley, pushing it up as well.

He sat up a little, gently pushing her to lie back again and moved his hand lower, down her stomach and between her legs.

Her breath hitched as one of her hands grabbed the edge of his Henley, clutching to it.

He smirked and she looked at him, both affection and mirth in his eyes.

Her heart beat faster. God, this man would be the death of her.

Then his hand found its way into her panties and without warning he buried a finger inside her.

She sighed again and he kissed her, running his tongue over her teeth.

His thumb started massaging her sweet spot as he added another finger and started moving.

A jolt of electricity bolted through her and she let out an involuntary moan, to which he reacted by smirking again.

He looked straight at her and somehow she couldn't look away as she felt her high building.

She noticed that she reacted very strongly tonight, it had really been too long.

He quickened his pace, leaning in to kiss and suck on a certain point on her neck, up the spot right under her ear and her earlobe. She heard him breathing.

That was her undoing and she felt the rush coming over her, blinding her for a second as he slowed down, riding her out of her high.

Then he stopped and pulled away, sitting back again but still grinning down at her warmly.

She took a deep sigh and then looked back at him.

What happened to part two?

"You should shower and get dressed, love, you can sleep in the plane," he said and got off the bed, with his usual gracefulness. Obviously amused, he left the room.

_Wait – what?_

* * *

After he'd packed the back into the car – and she was standing, freshly showered and dressed in a summer dress and a pair of heals, in the middle of the night. He turned towards her and then took a few steps in her direction.

His pupils dilated and she stilled. _What?_

"No matter what people are talking or what the sign at the airport say, you won't know where we're going until I tell you," he said, smirking and then releasing her from the compulsion.

"What the fuck!" she screamed at him. His grin widened.

"All part of the surprise."

She snorted angrily. Seriously?"

He cocked his head to the side, making goddamn puppy at her. "Forgive me?"

She glowered at him and then strode into the car.

* * *

She loved flying. From the first day on she had loved it.

When he'd taken her to Rome – yes, seriously, actually Rome – she'd boarded a plane for the very first time. She loved the air the place had to it, all those people, the stores, an air of something else. This was a junction, a place that all kinds of people passed through every day, to get every- and anywhere in the world. She had barely been able to contain her excitement and now, after having travelled to countless places in the world with him, she still was as giddy as at the first day.

She tried not to make it too visible but when she caught his pleased gaze she knew she wasn't doing a very good job.

She didn't even try to concentrate on the destination board, she knew it was useless and somehow she didn't really want to know. This would better be a goddamn good surprise. Or the not-talking period would be extended.

She was still angry that they hadn't gotten to part two now, he was teasing her and she knew it.

When they sat in the plane and she'd already flipped through the magazine she'd bought at the airport, they started.

Amazed she stared out of the window – he'd always let her have the seat at the window. Of course they were first class and he could just have sat in front of her but he sat beside her, always.

Nobody else was in their part of the cabin and she was sure this had been his doing. Ugh. Showoff.

She watched the familiar places get smaller, humans, cars shrinking to the size of little dots until they were up in the air and she could see the horizon, the mountains. The lights of the cities. There was a cloud free sky. The cities and landscape beneath her were molding into patches of color, she could feel the power of the engines carrying them up, farther and farther up and until they had reached a constant height she didn't lean back in her seat.

She couldn't help but turn to smile at him and there was a softness in his eyes that almost made up for his bullshit.

* * *

When she woke up they were still flying and it was still night. Dizzily she took in her surroundings.

He had his arm wrapped around her and her head was resting on his chest, her hand in his.

Yawning she leaned forward, stretching her arms above her head. Oh, the beauty of first class.

He was awake, sitting in a relaxed position.

"Just three hours left, love, you can sleep a little more."

She shook her head. "No," then she thought for a moment. "I am hungry."

A knowing smirk spread on his face. "You know, I thought about that. First I considered bringing some blood bags. But then I thought – how about I give you your second present in here. It's your birthday, you should have a special kind of bouquet, don't you think?" She frowned and he rolled up the sleeve of his Henley.

Realization hit her.

"You want to _bloodshare_. In a _plane_?"

He chuckled. "Don't worry, I compelled the flight attendants while you were asleep. No one's gonna disturb us in here."

Her heartbeat sped up a beat again. _Seriously_.

Then he smiled and pulled her with her back against his chest, kissing her cheek softly and lifting up his wrist in front of her face. "It's not nice to reject a present, love."

She snorted but then she raised her hands to his arm and bit down gently.

When she felt the taste on her tongue, she closed her eyes, letting her vampire instinct take over.

She could never get enough of it, just like she could never get enough of him. Stupid jerk.

She felt his hand gently stroking over her hair and she relaxed into him, letting her thoughts drift off and after a while she felt herself slowly falling asleep again.

* * *

She awoke when they were landing, her eyes wide open at once.

She lifted her head off his lap and stretched herself again, her gaze fixed on the view outside the window. The sun was shining brightly and she wondered where they were.

People and places grew again and she decided that it was somewhere warm. She couldn't put her finger on it, though. She knew she'd recognize it if it wasn't for the stupid compulsion, ugh.

When they walked through the halls of the airport happiness and excitement spread in her chest again. They took a car that he had rented and her drove them through beautiful little villages until they reached the shore.

Was this the sea?

They halted and he got out, motioning for her to do the same.

There was a… bridge, leading to – a city on the water?

He closed in beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist and bowing down to her ear.

"_Welcome to Venice, love_," he whispered, obviously pleased with himself.

Her eyes widened as she whipped around to face him. Then, a bright smile spread on her face, her chest nearly exploding with excitement.

"How did you – how did you know?"

He chuckled.

She'd never told him she wanted to go. Actually, she'd never told him where she wanted to go at all. He'd have to earn that piece of information.

"Let's just say the doppelganger and I, we are on talking terms now. Well, were."

She couldn't bring herself to get angry at the remark about the Damon-thingy, she was just too happy. Eagerly she strode back to the car.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

He chuckled and followed her, swiftly sliding into the driver's seat.

* * *

When they entered the city they didn't park in one of the public garages, but entered a hidden, private one.

When they left the building and walked up the first canal with all the beautiful houses, a park and beautiful brides too pass it she couldn't contain herself and practically danced along the rim. The water was not exactly blue but it was beautiful. When they reach the canal grande, it was breathtaking. A modern train station, right next to a canal as wide as a river, getting smaller on its way into the city. Big, old, beautiful buildings as well as small and detailed ones. Little boats at the houses, balconies, terraces, people filling the streets. _Boats as busses_. And the sun, a view of the shore far ahead.

They walked on, up a hill into a small street filled with little shops. She entered every single one, bought a little of this and that, even some clothes. Klaus had them all sent to some place.

She was especially happy about a carnival mask that she had found at one of the more expensive shops. It was pastel and white, with lace and pearls and feathers.

They reached the canal grande again and found an array of painters, drawing pictures of Venice as well as portraits.

Klaus inspected every single one of them until he found one that he paid a thousand € to leave him his equipment for an hour.

"I want you to stand right there," he said, sitting down in front of the easel. "I am going to draw you."

She wanted to protest against his bossy tone but she knew this was another present.

She loved it when he painted her.

It was a different kind of contact, a different kind of situation. The way he looked at her changed, he concentrated on each detail, his eyes roaming her body from the top of her head to her feet, careful not to miss anything. She enjoyed it, his gaze held a different kind of appreciation.

And she got to watch him, too, focused and calm.

Except for his hand and his eyes moving he was frozen in place, his body relaxed yet tense.

She loved watching his chest rise and fall in even breath. After a while he switched to aquarelle colors and she couldn't wait to see his work.

When he was done he signaled for her to come see and she did so, gladly.

Once again she was puzzled by the way he was able to paint some of his pictures with a sense and understanding of beauty that was as pure as if he'd never seen a spark of evil in his life. As if _he _wasn't evil.

She smiled at him and he swiftly rolled it up again, fixing it with blue piece of cloth.

Then he stood up and thanked the clearly massively impressed painter and placed his hand at the small of her back, leading her down the street and leaned in to kiss her.

* * *

They ate at a small restaurant, not meant for tourists, hidden down in one of the alleys. There was a small backyard with a pond and several old trees.

They were the only guests.

She really enjoyed the cozy little place, surround by old and definitely private facades, the bird chirping over her head and the rush of the small waterfall beside her.

She had pasta and an extraordinary dessert as well as some expensive whine that was making her dizzy in the middle of the day.

"Venice used to be a juncture point, just like the airports we visited earlier," he said and he wondered how he could have such an insight into her thoughts.

"Everyone came here, traders, travelers, even people from the far east. I once went to visit China and Japan from this place on."

He continued eating, elegantly rolling the noodles up his fork.

"Of course there used to be vampires as well," he smirked. "And witches."

She was hooked.

"And how did they get along?"

He chuckled. "Well, let's say the witches had a rather strong hold of this place. I caused a little disruption whenever I came here but they quickly got it under control again. These were good times, it was a city filled with life."

She frowned. "It is now."

He shook his head. "No. It's a museum."

She let her gaze wander off vacantly.

"I wish I had seen it."

His eyes fixated on hers and she couldn't help but look back at him.

"You will see much, much more."

* * *

They visited the museums, the plazas, a cheap café in the middle of a tourist zone.

Then, when it was afternoon, her lead her to a dock, a private one.

Apparently a boat was waiting for them.

It was a yacht – of course. A white one with a spacious terrace on top of it and a few private rooms, including a bedroom, a bath and a bar.

He'd let the stuff she'd bought be delivered here.

On the side of the boat the words _Mardi Grasse _were written. She laughed.

"Mardi Grasse?"

He smirked, handing her a glass filled with bourbon. "It seemed appropriate. Now, love, how about you relax on deck while I get you your next present."

She raised her eyebrows but then complied.

She lay down on a lounger, balancing the drink in her hands as she felt him start the engine. They were going somewhere, away from the city. Eagerly she watched it grow smaller and smaller while the water grew more and more. They were heading towards a set of islands. There seemed to be an infinite amount of them around and she concentrated on memorizing the way they took as she sipped on her drink and enjoyed the afternoon sun on her skin.

Too bad she couldn't get a tan.

When they arrived it was already sunset and they stopped and put it on a small dock.

He left the drivers cabinet with a wide smile on his face.

"This has been mine for quite some time now. Now it's yours as well."

Her jaw literally fell while her eyes widened.

"_Seriously_?"

An arrogant expression covered his face as he raised his eyebrows.

She lightly punched him on his chest as she laughed. "You fucking showoff."

He chuckled as well and she pulled him in for a quick, intense kiss, leaving him flushed and breathless when she abruptly pulled back, gave him a teasing smirk and then ran off to collect her bags.

* * *

There was a house on the island, very old but obviously kept in shape. It was spacious, beautiful and with large windows. When she'd taken the chance to unpack her things in the beautiful bedroom and large bathroom with a view of a small beach down at the shore they ate on the terrace that made the one in the restaurant seem crowded and small. They had cheese, olives, an array of little dips and bread as well as expensive champagne.

_Their thing_, right, alcohol.

She snorted at the thought.

"We can go see the beach if you want to. Or you could wait till tomorrow," he suggested while she leaned back in her chair.

She thought for a moment.

"No. Tomorrow. I'm still waiting for another birthday present over here."

He raised his eyebrows, giving her a suggestive look.

"Right, love, I almost forgot about that."

She cocked her head to the side, feigning to be offended.

"I will _not_ kill Damon at the birthday party you have planned for the weekend."

She snorted. "How about: You will not kill Damon. Ever."

He rolled his eyes, taking another sip of his drink. Then his face hardened.

"You know why I want to. And additionally to that there is his bloody attitude – he makes it really difficult for me to not rip his heart right out of his chest."

She crossed her arms.

"Well, I'm not speaking to you unless you promise not to."

He stilled, frowning at her. She could see the anger boil up in his eyes. But then he closed them and took a deep breath. "Alright, it is your birthday after all."

She downed the rest of her drink, smiling and then rose to her feet.

"I'm gonna take a shower now."

He smiled, his expression softening. "Meet me in the living room."

She raised her eyebrows, then turned on her heals and headed inside.

This had gone better than expected.

* * *

When she came down to the living room in the negligee she'd bought today he was waiting for her with soft music playing in the background.

He raised his eyebrows at the sight, guiding his eyes to take in the sight. She did the same. Apparently he'd changed into another shirt, hanging loosely on his shoulders.

She knew what he was up to, so she stepped in front of him and held out her hands to dance and he took them and guided one on his shoulder, taking the other one in his while placing his free hand on her waist.

"This is really cheesy, you know," she joked, as they started moving.

"You like it cheesy," he replied, pulling her a little closer.

He leaned in and whispered into her ear, they were dancing close now.

"You like to think of yourself as some sort of fairy tale princess, some sort of Cinderella. Now tell me love, did I make your dreams come true?"

She shivered, but then drew back, giving him a challenging look.

"Actually, I think I'm more of a Mulan. But _you_ are definitely the beast."

He chuckled.

She squinted her eyes, raising her eyebrows.

"And actually, all Disney-princess dreams aside, right now," she accentuated the words, her smirk spreading. "right now I'd really be content with just fucking."

Surprise spread on his face but only for a moment until he crashed down his mouth onto hers, his fingers finding the way under the hem of her dress, squeezing her bottom.

She ran her hand up under his shirt, over his chest and he groaned at the contact.

She could feel his arousal up against her and she smirked again.

He was probably pretty worked up, having lasted all through the day.

She giggled as she pulled his shirt above his head and an instant later her negligee, too, pooled at her feet.

He broke the kiss, both their breaths heavy, looking at her intently, now with untamed lust in his eyes. "I'm taking you to the bedroom."

And before she could protest – if she had wanted to – she was tossed on the king size bed, almost as big as they had at home. She felt his weight above her and she arched her back to get closer as she felt his mouth attack her neck again, his hands roaming her body. She sighed in ecstasy and he ripped off her panties. Fortunately not her favorite ones (she'd been planning for the night).

Her hands found their way to unbuckle his pants and then she slid down both them and his boxers. He tossed them off the bed, apparently having gotten rid of his shoes and his socks before.

Then he was above her again, his hand between her legs and she moaned.

He slid down, kissing her chest, her breasts, taking one nipple after another between his teeth while his fingers found their way inside her again. She knew what he was about to do when he went down farther, leaving a trail of kisses down to her stomach.

"No," she said. "Just get on with it already."

But he just looked up and smirked at her, his hand spread on her stomach to hold her down. "This is your birthday, love. Don't be ungrateful." And then her legs were on his shoulders and when she felt his mouth descend upon her, her breath caught in her throat and she arched up her back again, against his hand holding her in place.

Okay. Change of plans.

Her eyes fluttered as he worked her with both his fingers and his tongue, licking, nipping until she felt herself climbing another high again, way too quickly.

As it washed over her she let out a strangled moan and lost herself in the bliss for a moment.

When she opened her eyes he was hovering above her again, smirking but there was an urgency in his eyes that turned her on beyond believe.

"If you're gonna tease me anymore, I'm gonna punch you," she said and she saw a feral glint in his eyes.

Then, suddenly, he was inside her and they moaned in unison. She placed her hands on his chest and around his neck as he started moving, closing her eyes.

"No," he groaned. "Look at me, Caroline."

She smirked and kept her eyes closed.

He stopped in his motions and leaned in closer, his hand playing with her hair, the other massaging her breast as he whispered in her ear. "Look at me."

She smirked, but complied and instantly he started moving again, faster now.

Their eyes met and she shivered at the intensity of his gaze.

She raised her legs, clasping them behind his back and both of them moaned at the new angle. She moved against him, meeting him with every thrust as he switched between quick and hard and slow and deep.

He kissed her again and soon the movement of their mouths mirrored the motions of their hips.

Then he leant back, placing one of her legs on his shoulder and smirked at her again, driving into her from the new angle and her eyes almost rolled to the back of her head as her hand grasped onto his arm to anchor herself.

His hand found hers beside her head and he laced his fingers with hers as he slowly built both their climaxes again.

She looked at him and she saw primal need and intense, burning affection in his eyes.

He increased his pace and she heard both him and herself releasing a series of little moans and noises until a particular groan of his sent her tumbling over the edge again.

He followed in almost the same instant and both of them shook against each other until he collapsed on top of her, keeping his weight on his arms, both of them spent.

Then he rolled of her, pulling her into an embrace with one hand and covering them with the blanket with the other.

He placed a small kiss on her forehead and then pulled in to whisper in her ear.

"_I love you_,"

She sighed. She had never said it back. Not yet.

They were still in the beginning of their relationship and she was not about to. Even now.

And he was fine with that, every time. She never detected any amount of disappointment or sadness in his eyes after he said it, just adoration, even now as she pulled back to kiss him, cuddling into him farther. The cool fabric of the blanket against her skin felt good as their legs tangled up underneath it.

"This was an amazing birthday, the best I ever had, actually," she said as she rested her head on the pillow beside his, smiling softly.

He smiled, a genuine one, free of every hint of mirth.

"Sleep now. If you want to, tomorrow can be just as beautiful."

She took that as a cue and closed her eyes, her smile growing.

Then she yawned. She was really tired. It had been a long day.

She fell asleep as she felt his hands caress her back.


	13. friends

_hey! Can you pls do a drabble of that new klaroline still (when care is against the tree and klaus is holding her against it or something) and he's confronting her about her feelings and she does and they kiss? :)_

* * *

She'd called him and he came, she was waiting in the forest near the Salvatore house when he arrived, his eyes big and worried.

"You have to help me," she pleaded "please!"

He took a step towards her. "Help you with what, Caroline? What's the matter?"

"He's going to hurt Matt!" she stammered. "Damon is going to torture Matt so that Elena gets her humanity back. You have to help me stop him!"

Suddenly, anger appeared in his eyes, deep rooted, harsh anger.

"Now, why would I do that?"

He took a step towards her. "Why would I waste a second of my time doing that? What makes you think I give a damn about the busboy?"

Her eyes widened in shock, then started to burn in anger. "Because you'll help me! Because you always do!"

He took a step forward and placed his hand on her shoulder, swiftly but gently pushing her against the tree behind her, locking her eyes with his. "What am I to you, Caroline? The one you call when nobody else picks up? The one to save the day for you, that you can use however you like and then drop as soon as he's done his job?"

Her eyes widened in shock again. He was really intimidating, a calm fury in his eyes.

But in the end it only fueled hers more.

"Excuse me? You are the one who wanted to be 'friends'! _I_ helped _you_ with Silas!"

He cocked his head to the side, his jaw clenched. "I saved your life twice, I even saved you from Alaric. When you plotted against me there were no consequences. I even let _Tyler_ walk away for you!"

She leaned forward, almost shouting in his face. "You tried to _kill me_ twice! And you didn't let him walk, you sentenced him to an eternity of paranoia! _You_ took him away from me!"

He took a deep breath, obviously trying to compose himself.

He leant in a little closer, menace in his eyes and his tone of voice. "_Don't you think for a second I didn't catch him leaving Mystic Falls at prom_."

The anger left her eyes, replaced by raw fear.

"I _let him walk_," he spat, "_again_. _For you_."

She sighed in relief, breathing still labored for a moment.

She shook her head, then looked up at him, first shaken, then angry, then shaken again.

"Thank you," she finally said and the look in her eyes made him feel like his heart was being ripped in two.

"Come with me," he said. "To New Orleans, let me take you with me, away from here."

She looked away. "No."

Then her head snapped towards him again, her brows furrowed. "You're leaving again?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded, fixing his burning gaze on hers again.

"Yes."

"_You're leaving us alone with Silas_," she whispered.

He licked his lips. "Come with me."

"No!" she spat, angrily. "No. These are my friends, I'm gonna stand by their side, even if I have to die in the process."

Now his eyes widened, the shock quickly replaced by fury.

"These people…," he said, his voice hard, "These people don't deserve your affections, much less you sacrificing your _life _for them."

She pushed his hand away from her shoulder, taking a threatening step forward.

"These are _my friends_. I _won't let you talk about them like that_! We've been through so much and even now we will somehow make it through-"

"Are they, though?" he interjected. "Were they there for you when you needed them like you were for them? Were they there for you when you turned?"

Shock returned to her features.

"I talked to Stefan. I _know_," he went on. "The witch, the doppelganger – they can't even see you for what you are. They treat you like the shallow little cheerleader you never really were."

Now she was screaming. "**You have no idea what you're talking about! Get away from me!**" she pushed him but he let her, controlling his anger.

"You deserve better," he insisted, taking hold of her upper arms. "Let me show you."

She shook her head, angrily. He saw that he had hit home.

"Why should I trust _you_ of all people," she spat, locking her eyes with his. "You _destroy_ everything you love. Your whole life is nothing but a story of burning bridges and shedding blood." She accentuated each word.

Anger returned to his eyes as he pushed her into the tree again but she could still feel that he was holding back, his movement controlled and almost careful.

"I won't with you," he retorted, piercing her with his gaze. "I want you out of Silas' reach."

"I'm not a fucking commodity! I make **my own choices**!"

"**I know**!" he barked, then took a deep breath to compose himself. "I know. And I respect that. You know I do." His eyes bore into hers again. "I just can't let you let yourself get hurt. What else do I have to do?"

She laughed dryly, her voice menacing. "How about you _wait_ your fucking century."

Both of them stilled, and the anger left her face to be replaced by an expression of surprise.

This meant-

His eyes were vibrant with emotion and for a moment she could see herself in them, flustered and helpless. She'd just said that one day, (in a year or in a century) there _would _be a chance.

_I am not ready_.

Which really meant – _I will be ready one day_.

Somewhere in time her perspective had shifted. She'd never wanted to talk to him like this, as if there was something personal between them, a place only the two of them knew. Yet she couldn't help it, every time they met. No matter how hard she tried to fight it, it was there and she couldn't shake it.

And now – she hadn't even known herself she thought that.

This had turned into a very uncomfortable situation.

"Did you just-" he asked then licked his lips.

"No," she whispered, her voice unsure. "No, I just – god, I hate you."

It was lame, really, the words uttered so fleetingly she didn't even believe them herself. She couldn't stop looking in his eyes, these pools of raw emotion. No matter what he said, they would always betray him. She knew him way too well.

Suddenly his lips crushed down on hers and despite herself she responded, instantly burying her hands in his hair, pulling him closer.

It was like a dam was breaking, a wall that should never have been there crumbled into nothingness.

He kissed her fervently, his lips caressing hers until she opened them and their tongues met in a dance that had her week in the knees. Every coherent thought fled her mind.

But she knew, for a moment, that she was letting go, that she was doing what she really wanted. For a moment, only for a short moment.

Then, suddenly, he pulled back, looking at her like he had just realized what he had done.

Her mind cleared immediately – she'd deal with this later, now she had things to do, priorities.

"If you won't help me I will go there and stop him from hurting Matt, even if it is me that gets hurt in return."

Reality hit him and his eyes turned ablaze again. She could vividly see the battle he was fighting. Finally, he growled in annoyance, his lips forming a snarl.

"_Fine_," he answered.

She sighed in relief and turned to head towards the Salvatores, desperately trying to slow down her heartbeat. _Not now_.

After a few seconds she heard him follow.

Right, okay, Matt to focus on.


	14. safe

_Klaroline drabble: Caroline calls Klaus for help when she's running from Silas_

* * *

She couldn't reach her mom. She couldn't reach Bonnie. No matter how often he called. She looked over her shoulder, her car screeching on the pavement as she tried to keep it in a steady line. Her heartbeat was racing. Fear, cold, dreadful, core-shaking fear raced through her.

Adrenalin, it was adrenalin.

Oh god, he was probably still behind her. He could appear anywhere. She couldn't even run.

_Oh god, oh god what am I supposed to do? Oh god_

Silas was after her, he would _kill_ her, how could she trust anyone she met not to be him?

Klaus. He'd been Klaus.

For a moment there she'd really been afraid he'd kill her.

_The fucking stake._

_Klaus_, she could call _Klaus_.

She ripped up her phone, frantically searching the number. Finally she found it, pressing call while the car once again almost hit the railing.

_Oh god, please pick up, please, please, please, somebody pick up now_.

Thankfully he did, after the first ring.

"Caroline," he said and she barely registered the obvious delight in his voice, the fear numbing down everything else.

"Oh, thank god! **You have to help me!** **Silas!** Silas is after me, I don't know what to do, I-"

"**Where are you**?" His voice was stony, but she could hear the panic in it.

"In my car, I'm in my car, I'm driving home – Oh my god, I don't know what to do. He wants Bonnie. **I can't reach her**!" Her hand grabbed tighter to the wheel as she once more checked all the mirrors, frantically moving and almost driving the car off the road again.

"**Caroline** you have to listen to me right now. I am in New Orleans. I will be there as soon as I can, but it will take a few hours. **Go to a crowded place. Where are your friends**?"

"He won't let me get to them! He threw me down the **fucking stairs**! I need to reach Bonnie, oh god, I tried calling her ten times, **she isn't picking up**."

She heard something crash at the other end of the line.

"**Caroline. CALM DOWN. I will call Rebekah. I'm coming. Wait for me**."

"No no no no no! Don't! **Don't hang up on me**. She hates me, she won't help me. Oh god, fuck, what the hell am I **supposed to do**?"

"**Caroline**, you need to listen to me. I need you to calm down, the last thing you need right now is to cause an accident. Drive home. I will stay on the phone with you until you're save."

"**But how am I ever supposed to be safe? **He can appear **anywhere** as **anyone**. He was **you** for gods sake!"

She heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. "Caroline, concentrate on the road, **tell me what happened.**"

She took a deep shaky breath, concentrating her vision on the road before her. She could do this.

She'd be home soon.

"He was you. First I thought it was really you. And then he was Matt and then he was you again. He **staked** me, but **it was all in my head**! Oh god." She took another deep breath.

She heard another crash on the other end of the line.

"He wants you to get Bonnie to perform the spell, right?" he asked, his voice emotionless and stony.

Her driveway – finally. She parked the car, tires shrieking on the pavement as she halted.

"Yes. I'm home now, I'm gonna go in now."

"_Be careful_. Stefan's not picking up, my sister isn't either. **Don't get off the phone Caroline**."

She nodded, gulping, the fear almost making her oblivious to the fact that he couldn't see her. "Okay. I'll keep the phone on, I'm trying to find my mom."

Then she put it in her pocket, feeling somewhat more save than before.

Strange, just moments ago she'd actually been _afraid _of him. But now there was something else, something even more dangerous to be afraid of.

She entered her house, taking a deep breath.

* * *

Her mother was safe, she was _safe_. She'd actually thought she'd lost her.

She was okay. She was okay.

Oh god, no.

Now, hours later, her mother was vast asleep by now, she let herself break down in the privacy of her room.

She didn't even know whether she was crying tears of happiness or if it was the backlash of the fear she'd felt earlier. He was _everywhere. _He could be _anyone_.

He'd been in her head. She'd actually believed he was really Klaus.

Such a convincing performance. Why hadn't he chosen Tyler? _Why had he appeared as Klaus_?

Suddenly her eyes widened in shock.

_Klaus_.

Frantically, she pulled out her phone. God, she was still shaking.

He'd hung up. When?

She had totally forgotten about that as soon as she was inside.

Oh god.

Suddenly, she heard rustling outside and fear shot through her again. No, Silas had what he wanted.

She flinched again, almost falling off the bed as she felt a movement around her, turning around with wide eyes.

_Klaus_.

Or Silas?

He stood there, staring down at her with wide eyes, emotion flashing through them.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked, his voice strained.

She nodded. "Yes," she whispered breathlessly.

He took a step forward and she flinched back. She knew it didn't make sense but in the back of her mind there was still the thought _that it could be Silas_.

He halted, his brows furrowing in concern while his eyes were still bursting with emotion.

She shook her head. "Yes, yes I'm okay."

He licked his lips, not moving from the spot he was at and she saw relief rushing over him.

"What happened?"

She took a deep breath, collecting herself. Fuck, she had been crying moments ago. Quickly she rose to her feet and grabbed a tissue, cleaning her face.

Then she gulped, turning back towards him, trying to regain her composure but she was still shaking.  
"He almost killed my mom," she said, trying not to make her desperation too evident.

"But I saved her, I _saved_ her, it's okay," she said, sitting down on the bed again.

He was here. He'd come all the way. For her.

She looked up at him, her brows furrowing. "How did you even get here that fast?"

He licked his lips, still standing in the same spot, unmoving.

"I ran," he simply said, his voice slowly going back to normal.

Her eyes widened once more. "You _ran_ here, from _New Orleans_?"

He nodded. "Are you really okay, Caroline?"

She gulped and shook her head. "I'll manage. I always do."

He looked at her in worry and her heart clenched.

Why? How could she ever have thought that he was _moving on_? And why was it such a relief that he wasn't?

He took a step closer and this time she didn't feel threatened. He watched her face attentively as he proceeded to walk towards her, slowly sitting down on the bed beside her.

"He has Bonnie," she said. "He has Bonnie because of me."

He kept staring at her as if her mere existence was a miracle.

She looked back up at him, feeling helpless once again. She didn't even know what to do with this storm of emotions, the fear, her mother almost dying, her mother _being alive_, _Klaus_.

Suddenly tears started rising up again but she tried to will them away.

"I won't leave again. Not until Silas is taken care of," he said and she almost saw guilt in his eyes.

She shook her head. "You have no responsibilities here. I'm sorry I called you, I didn't know what else to do-"

He fixed his gaze on hers again, his eyes piercing her. She saw hurt in them and immediately felt sorry but pushed it down. "Don't be. Never hesitate to call me when you're in danger."

She looked away, scoffing.

They spend a minute in silence.

"What did he do to you, Caroline? I have to know."

She frowned, looking back at him. "Why?"

He licked his lips, looking away for a brief second.

"I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt. Much less by somebody that looks like _me_."

She couldn't look at him, feeling a painful sensation in her chest.

_How could she ever have thought_.

"I told you, he staked me, strangled me a bit, threw me down the stairs."

She could see the anger in his eyes, but he forced it down.

"_I'm going to kill him."_

"But you can't!" she interjected, "Nobody can. That's the fucking point. I don't even know why I called you – I-"

He sighed, looking at her like that again. She gulped."I'm sorry," she said. "You came all the way for nothing, I- I should have told you, but my _mom_, she-"

He shook his head. "As long as you're safe all of that doesn't matter."

She scoffed, staring at him in disbelief. "_Why_? I- I've tried but I _simply don't understand_."

_What are you afraid of? – You!_

She wasn't afraid now, at least not of him.

_Deep down you long to have your perfect feathers ruffled_.

God, no. Why did Silas say that. She wasn't really-

He frowned at her. "I've told you before Caroline. I don't think you know-" he paused, closing his eyes for a second. "I don't think you know how much I care about you."

She closed her eyes.

Suddenly, tears rose up again. This time she couldn't hold them. The _goddamn confusion_. Why was she so glad to hear this. She shouldn't be.

She should have been glad about the idea of him moving on, of him leaving.

But the truth was she wasn't and it scared her half to death once more that day.

She buried her face in her hands, trying to stop the tears without sobbing. _Don't make a fucking noise_.

She heard take in a sharp breath beside her and her heart clenched even more.

"Caroline…"

Fuck. He needed to leave, now.

She let out a sob, hiding her face.

Suddenly she felt his arm on her shoulder, nudging it softly, carefully.

She couldn't stop. It was almost relieving, letting it go, although she still didn't allow herself to make a sound the tears flew down her face.

She heard him breathe again, almost nervously, and then he cautiously pulled her in his arms, as if he was ready for her to push him away any second.

But she couldn't, she couldn't do anything but let the water run, get this out of her system now.

She was completely vulnerable now, with _him_ in her proximity and it didn't even scare her.

Gently his hand caressed up and down her back.

"It's okay, you're safe," she heard him whisper, his voice cracking and she felt herself brought back right into that moment when he had saved her from Alaric.

She relaxed instantly, allowing herself to bury her face in his chest and let herself go, crying quietly now.

"You're safe."


	15. longing

_Anonymous asked you: may i please has more drabbles of the longing variety. maybe mutually revealed longing, but yet to be acted upon. yum. _

* * *

_They stared at each other, connected, like they always did._

_She could see the affection in his eyes, and how deep it ran. His words might have been poisonous, but his gaze was the antidote. And they didn't say anything, for now._

_For one second, one moment, she allowed herself to want it, to be with him. He was living, breathing temptation (well, maybe not so much since he was technically dead) and he wanted her._

_She couldn't act upon it, though, never, not even, especially now. So she'd just sit there, look at him and remain in the space that was still save with a growing part of her simply wishing that he'd close the distance between them. Yet, she was anxious. This tension was going to tear her apart. Another reason to be afraid, to not do this. She was in control._

_But then he leaned in and she could feel his breath on her face before his lips touched hers, his eyes closing and she felt a shiver run down her spine at the contact. Then he started kissing her, softly, slowly, and it was so unlike and at the same time just like him that she couldn't help but let her own eyes fall shut. She took a shaky breath as his lips moved on hers and when she felt his tongue carefully and seductively invading her mouth she lost herself completely and responded._

_It was light, gentle, yet it crushed her completely._

_She felt his arms encircling her body and then-_

* * *

She was waking up. She didn't wake up with a blast, it was slow, as if the fog was clearing around she came to her senses.

She'd had a dream about Klaus. She'd had a _wet dream_ about Klaus.

Embarrassed, she gulped. God damnit, there was no reason to be embarrassed! She was in her own bed, nobody could see her.

But the guilt reached down right into her core.

Her dreams always revealed her, bringing up ancient issues from the past that she had almost forgotten about. Or recent ones.

She'd had this before, back when she was a teenager. She'd crushed on this guy and even years later when she knew he was a total douche and not worthy of her time she'd still dream of him sometimes.

She'd dreamed of Klaus every time that she remembered dreaming, for some time now. Every time he was there. First it had been dangerous, threatening and she'd always managed to fight him off.

Then he'd been in the background, always watching.

And then she'd started dreaming about him engaging with her, talking to her. No matter what happened, he was always present to help or just to be there sometimes.

And then the rest of the story had faded, leaving only him.

This was the first time she'd dreamed of… anything _physical_ with him. It had always been reserved, right on the edge but never crossing it, just like it was in real life.

But _now_…

She sat up and slightly shook her head. No. She couldn't let this happen.

Elena's word echoed in her head. Elena's words in _his _mouth. The way she had been unable to deny the force of the attraction he held for her, even if it _wasn't even him_. It had been such a strange sensation, Silas holding her up against a tree, whispering in her ear. _With his lips_.

No.

She couldn't let herself want this. But it seemed some part of her brain had an entirely different idea about that.

* * *

_It was 1725 and she was there with him. They were building the city, brick by brick._

_He turned vampires and guided the work that was done by the humans, silently, invisibly, always in the shadows because his father could show up anytime and find him._

_She was laughing, indulging in the things he showed her, vibrant with life and beauty. Everything she touched, she granted it a piece of the perfection that was her._

_He watched her in awe._

_She was his._

_And she was happy, the light surrounding her stronger than ever. She was maturing, step by step, more and more filling the footsteps that he left her until she caught up with him and went her own way, even more enthralling to watch and love than before. There was no way to guide her anymore, she found new ways on her own that he hadn't thought of, that surprised him after a thousand years of experience._

_And she melted into his form, kissing him, loving him. By his side._

_He didn't hurt her. He couldn't._

_He'd despised this if he had a choice but he just couldn't anymore. She was his life as much as he was hers. He could see it in her eyes sometimes, and it destroyed and fulfilled him in one single gesture._

_She was beautiful._

_It was Mardi Grasse and they were kissing, close to each other. He could never get enough of her._

_He let his hands roam her body and she was holding onto his neck, his hair. He felt her small fingers caressing and pulling on it and it made him hot with desire. They way she kissed him, restless and without shame, even though they were standing in a mass of people._

_It made him want to take her right there, uncaring about the prying eyes of the people around him but he knew she wanted to stay, wanted to experience what was happening around them so he pulled back and composed himself. Later._

_She was his after all._

_She smiled up at him, grasping his hand, lacing her fingers with his, a motion that created a pulling sensation in his chest. She was his. His._

_"Thank you," she whispered, only for his ears. "I love you."_

* * *

He woke up, instantaneously frustrated.

She haunted him, his mind, the potential of what could be. _What could have been_.

He cursed and sat up, pouring himself another drink.

He kept a bottle and a glass on his nightstand, for months now.

She was messing with his mind.

He was in New Orleans now and his whole world had turned around. There was a war to fight, an enemy to take care of. _A bloody baby to be born_.

Yet, all his subconscious could be bothered with was _her_.

He should be happy with the way it was for now, they were _friends_.

He snorted, suppressing the desire to find some random victim and tear out his throat.

Another distance, a wall between them. _The killing_.

If only she wasn't so keen on being moral, if only she didn't have these friends.

His teeth clenched after he took a slug. Who was he kidding. If only she _wasn't herself_.

And he wanted her like this.

But she didn't want him.

He'd always gotten what he wanted, taken it if necessary. The only boundaries he knew were his own and even those he'd cross if the occasion was right.

With her he wasn't taking any chances.

He'd tried to _kill her_. It was always in the back of his mind, a nagging, torturing voice making him feel helpless and disgusted by himself.

Yet, he could still remember the taste of her blood on his tongue, the feeling of her lips on his wrist, her body leaning against his in weakness. He hadn't been able to help it back then, he just had to have her in his arms, caressing her, trying to take away some of the pain he'd caused.

The closest he'd ever gotten.

And now the distance was not only in their minds, but actually, literally there.

The comfort of having her only a few miles away, reachable within seconds, was gone.

He'd let her find herself, fight her own battles until maybe, one day, she was ready for him.

He could only hope.

He could only wait.


	16. justice

_I don't know if this will be out of your comfort zone but would you write a drabble where Caroline is raped (it doesn't have to be described at all) but Klaus is the one that comes to her rescue/comfort. I've never seen any like this before and I just think it'll make such an interesting storyline to see happen._

_This really was a challenge. I was hesistant to write it at first because it's such a heavy subject and it should be treated with decency._

_Major trigger warning, definitely only meant for a mature audience. Graphic depictions of violence following._

* * *

She'd turned it off at some point.

It had been a rational decision, really.

At first she'd tried to fight, to hold on but after some time she realized two things: he was stronger than her, there was nothing she could do – and: if she wanted to stay strong she needed to separate herself from the situation. The second realization wasn't really as much as a realization as a matter of fact. Before she'd taken the final step and switched off her humanity her mind had already insinuated the human equivalent – she found herself watching the scene from above, feeling nothing, neither physically nor emotionally.

It had only been one small step from there.

Now all she could think about was how she would get herself out of this alive.

The pain, the feeling of skin against skin, the shoving, _the other things_ were filed under the category: vampire healing will take care of it.

His face was filed under the category: destroy. She watched it carefully, her gaze empty yet sharp.

She calculated things, how long it would still take, which of his movements might open room for attack, how exactly his eyeballs would look, pierced with toothpicks. Whether a vampire would dissolve in a tank of vervein-water.

She was lost in thought, remembering the sound of breaking bones and the account of a middle-school-friend of hers who had once broken her ankle when suddenly he was ripped off of her in a movement that was too fast even for her vampire vision.

She sat up and her eyes found Klaus crashing him against the wall, his hybrid face contorted and twisted in a way that she had never seen before. As if he was a monster originating from scary fairy tails people told their children in the middle ages, the real ones, not the polished Disney version. She decided that it was an apposite description, as she watched Klaus rip off his ear.

Calmly, she dressed herself in what was left of her clothes and rose to her feet.

Klaus hand reached into his torso and slowly, agonizingly, pulled out an organ that she couldn't identify. Mesmerized, she watched.

She pondered for a bit. When she turned her humanity back on (and she would, she'd sworn to herself that this was only a situational decision) – would she feel guilty if she took part in the torture session? Would it make things worse?

She knew herself. It would.

This was a rational decision to be made and she knew exactly what would happen. She wouldn't even be able to feel sorry for herself if she killed him. She'd lock herself in a ping-pong-game of guilt and dread, shame and self-hatred. She would already have to deal with the fact that the psychologically necessary basic feeling of safety would be destroyed. (She'd thought she'd left all that behind her when she became a vampire. Wrong.) She definitely shouldn't add to the burden weighing on her shoulders.

But here she was, yet able to experience some sort of justice.

So she sat down again and proceeded in watching, reveling in the distorted crying and screaming that was leaving his throat as if it was being wrung out of him as Klaus took hold of his large intestine and pulled it out like giant worm resting in his insides.

Finally, she heard the sound of crashing bones and it was like a symphony in her ears, blending with the sounds coming from his mouth and the feral growl erupting from Klaus' (definitely not human).

It was like thirst being quenched and slowly, from moment to moment she was feeling better, more at peace. Too bad they didn't have any vervein, too bad it was night.

When Klaus made him eat his own eyeballs she felt a change in her mind.

This chapter was closed. She needed to move on to the next step.

She rose to her feet and walked up to them, softly touching Klaus' arm.

He froze instantly and then turned his head towards her, slowly, terror painting his expression as if her sight was something he'd tried to evade.

"Bite him," she said. "And leave him to die."

He licked his lips, his eyes vacant and then, in one inhumanly fast motion he buried his fangs in his neck, almost splitting him in half with the force that he was moving with.

He only drank a little, spitting it out as soon as she heard the thump of a body hitting the floor.

She looked down at him, mutilated and only remotely resembling the man who's face had carved itself into her brain, eternally.

Klaus still evaded her gaze.

"Could you get me somewhere I could shower?" she asked and he didn't turn, just nodded and started heading for the door. She followed.

She would shower, feed, rest and then get herself to a place, to people who could take care of her as soon as she turned it on again.

"How did you find me?" she asked, sitting down in the passenger seat of his car.

He kept his gaze fixed on the road as he started driving. After some time, he answered.

"I'm always keeping tabs of anyone of priority to me."

She stared out the window, watching the lights of the city fly by. He drove insanely fast, so fast that it would have scared her with her emotions on, even as a vampire.

"So you're stalking me."

He didn't say anything, keeping his eyes fixed on the road. They were burning and she watched him for a while, leaning back into the seat.

When they arrived at his place he quickly handed her a set of clothes (Rebekah's, she presumed) and she headed straight into the shower.

Outside she heard things crashing.

She would scrub herself bloody when she turned it on again, she'd already had a taste of the urge, the repulsion, the nausea back before she'd turned it off. Right now she just showered normally, thoroughly but non-neurotic. She'd have enough of that sooner or later.

When she returned to the living room she saw that he had wrecked half of it. Now he was sitting on the couch, a glass filled with alcohol in his hand, motionless.

She filled herself her own glass and sat down beside him.

"You know it's me that got raped, not you, right?" she asked him, matter-of-factly.

He flinched and as if he was waking up from some sort of coma he turned to look at her, unadulterated terror and rage in his eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again.

Fascinated, she watched as he composed himself and his face turned to stone, his jaw clenched tightly.

"Right," he said. "I apologize."

She shook her head, taking a sip of her drink. "There's nothing to apologize for. You saved me. And you gave me justice."

She saw emotions crossing his eyes, disbelief, pain and an utter sense of brokenness.

"However," she said. "You can't deal with me if I turn it on again. I'll go find Elena and Stefan for that."

He frowned, his eyes still watery, but then he nodded, the gesture holding a sense of finality.

"Just do me a favor and don't slaughter a village of innocent people about this. You could stick to rapists." She said it almost jokingly, but both of them knew that she was serious.

"Fine," he said, his words sharp, and took a huge slug of his drink.

"Now you should go shower, you're basically drenched in blood. I need to feed. Plus, I need a bed to sleep in." She didn't even ask if she could stay, it was a silent certainty hanging between them.

He nodded.

They didn't speak anymore that night.

He brought her a whole bottle of blood and led her to the guest bedroom.

When she woke up in the middle of the night she could hear him mumbling dark confessions in all kinds of different languages and eerie noises (roars, growls and some she couldn't even put a name on) in his sleep through the bedroom wall.

She was glad that she was a vampire, for a reason that she had never been glad before.

There _was_ a sense of primal safety left – she could turn away and switch it off whenever she needed.

Maybe this could serve as the thing to pull herself out with, when she would face the gaping black hole she was stuck in again.


	17. thank you

_500 hundred words prompt_

_mashka-mashka said: Caroline is killed by Silas, the veil is lifted, Klaus' reactions to seeing Caroline again._

* * *

He was a patient man. He was a vengeful man.

Now, for the first time in a thousand years, he was none of these things.

He'd dropped everything, Marcel, his family, the _baby_, _his revenge_ for getting her back. He'd bent over backwards, basically placed himself under the thumb of the one man he wanted to kill the most. Ironically enough, that man wanted to die himself. But they shared the mutual interest of dropping the veil so he had chased down Abby, locked down the Salvatores and abducted both the doppelganger and the busboy to get the Bennet witch to do her part. Not that she needed the motivation but he needed to be sure.

It was the only thing keeping him from burning down the whole bloody western civilization.

He knew she'd seen, watched everything. Which was why he had refrained from treating his hostages the way he really yearned to. (_Broken bones, ripped out organs, vervein, acid, for that matter, __**burn down the whole bloody planet.**_)

But no, he'd pushed back every notion that held any characteristic he identified with in this state of frenzy that clouded his mind, everything, every thought, every fragment reduced to this one goal, this one need of reviving her from the dead. All things other than that had ceased to exist.

He was positive he'd lose what was left of his sanity if he failed.

There were moments he was actually glad he hadn't burned the white oak stake.

But now she was back, here before him, staring at him with wide eyes full of wonder and fright.

And he, as well, motionless as stone.

At first that was the only sign that revealed to his mind that something had changed, shifted, that the frenzy was over. He was not moving.

First he couldn't. Then, he was afraid to scare her.

After everything that had happened, he had done, she had _seen_, things were hardly the same anymore. And yet, he couldn't act upon impulse since she was everything he had, the single thing left in the breath and width of his mind and somehow he felt like he had to treat her like she was fine china.

_Like she would vanish if he touched her. Like she would leave if he made a wrong move._

Her blonde curls, waving down on her shoulders (_he wanted to run his hands through them, to see if they were real, if they felt like the day he'd comforted her after-_) and her beautiful, magnificent (so innocent, yet so mature) face, her stance, _her scent_ – she had him mesmerized right where he was standing.

Whatever happened to Silas and the rest of them, he could not care less.

And then there was her, her expression molding into a quiet sort of maturity and she was walking up to him, placing her hand on his cheek.

And he found himself staring down at her, immobile yet again. She was really here.

"Thank you," she said.


	18. give in

_Anonymous asked: Can you do a drabble of like, "extended scenes" in one of Klaroline's existing moments we saw on tv? Like, what I mean by that is, things that you think happened "offscreen", like, between the scenes we got to see on tv? sorry my english isn't very good_

* * *

She was lying on the ground, where Tyler had left her, her breath heavy and her vacant gaze fixed on the ceiling.

He couldn't bear to watch her. He found he couldn't even bear not to.

She was going to die. This was a fact.

It was his decision, another piece of evidence of the ultimate power he held about life and death.

But the initial rush of power had immediately made way to another sensation that he had had to turn off, to distance himself from in order to do what he did next. Focus on Tyler. Watch the expression on his face, revel in the begging, knowing he'd be denied, no matter what he offered.

But he'd made the mistake of listening to her words, of looking at her face.

He'd been relieved when they left.

But now she was back.

Tyler thought he could get to him like this, that he could manipulate him into saving her. This was not even an option at this point.

_No matter how much the sound of her breathing crushed him every second of this._

He thought about just ripping out her heart and ending it once and for all.

The thought almost made him nauseous.

He couldn't leave her on the ground like this. She didn't deserve to die this way.

_She didn't deserve to die in the first place_.

Kol, he needed to keep his mind fixed on the burnt-in picture of his dying brother. Killed by the bloody doppelganger. His hybrids.

The one thing he'd wanted for almost a thousand years of his live.

But instead all he saw, all he could think of was the fact that she was there with him, suffering, dying, lying to his feet, too weak to even lift herself up onto one of the sofas.

_Why wasn't she saying anything_?

He was prepared for her begging for her life (he'd heard it a thousand times), he was prepared for crying , he was prepared for anything but this silence.

It was as if he wasn't even there for her.

It made him all the more furious, desperate.

_There was no desperation_. He was only desperate when nobody saw him. He was only desperate when it came to himself.

She would die like this, dying alone, silently, on the ground.

_She did not deserve this._

So he bowed down and gathered her in his arms (_please don't say anything_) and carried her to the sofa (_her smell, the sound she made, moaning in pain, the feel of her body against his_).

He laid her down, softly, carefully, and she looked at him.

Her eyes were clear for a moment. She was not begging. Just disappointment, sadness and a sense of maturity unknown to him up until now.

_Bloody fucking-_

He made his place by the door, as far away as possible.

He already felt his resolve dissolving. This would not be happening. He had snapped _his sisters_ neck.

He could not give in.


	19. deal breaker

She was always detached to a certain point, able to take a step back and turn her back if necessary. She tried her best, she committed. But there had always been the option to just leave in case a deal breaker happened.

She'd been this way with both Matt and Tyler.

She'd always thought that this applied to Klaus, too.

She saw him rip out the girl's throat after he'd drained her into unconsciousness, found herself immobile watching the evident glint of enjoyment in his eyes, mesmerized by the echo that the sound of the body falling to the ground created in her head.

She knew this was a deal breaker.

And she also knew she could not turn her back on him.

She knew, instinctively, it had become a core part of who she'd become, that she could not leave him.

She needed, _needed_ him, like she'd needed air as a human.

Eyes widened in terror, she felt the tingling all over her skin, the dread spreading in her chest.

This meant that she was trapped. That no matter what he did, no matter how this turned out in the long run, she'd be at his mercy, unable to leave. And the monster was still very much evident in him, right before her on clear display.

So when he turned his head and saw her and realization spread on his face she knew that this would be the last thing she'd ever see on it.

Because this meant that she had no choice left but to do exactly what she found herself unable to, to turn her back and leave, forever.

_So she did_.


	20. Graduation

He licked his lips, his gaze still fixed on hers, piercing right through her, like it usually did.

"I'm leaving, Caroline."

She nodded, feeling her guts twisting at his words. She knew, she _knew_. Yet, she found herself unable to accept it. But she couldn't say anything, either. It was not planned, this was not the way she was supposed to feel. She was supposed to be relieved.

Instead, she only felt an emptiness, the well-known feeling of loss.

"I have, however, decided to grant you a graduation gift."

She looked up at him, a frown spreading on her face.

His facial expression had suddenly changed, his jaw clenching and his eyes skipping away from her. Then, finally, he looked right back into them, his gaze even more intense than before as if he wanted her to listen closely to what he had to say.

"Tyler will be here in a few hours."

Her eyes widened, her mouth falling slightly open. _What?_

There was a connection between them, she saw in his eyes that he'd expected this reaction of her. He was treating her with more respect for the person that she was, than anyone had ever before, always approaching her on an equal footing. It still left her surprised, but at the same time she melted right into it.

There was always some kind of distance between her and other people, she always needed to change her ways a little, to fit their needs.

With him she was herself.

"We've come to an arrangement. You can have him back," he said, his eyes brimming with emotion again. But at the same time he was composed, serious.

She still couldn't believe this. _He_, of all people, the one who had tried to kill her to get back at Tyler, had mercilessly slaughtered twelve teenagers simply for disobeying him, who'd killed Jenna and even Elena in some way out of pure enjoyment of cruelty.

Despite how she acted on the outside and what she hoped, she was always anticipative about his reactions to what she'd ask.

Now this was almost surreal.

And for some reason painful, the tugging in her stomach only worsened. _No_.

_Don't go_.

What was even happening to her.

He was doing this _for her_, despite the fact that she hadn't given him anything in return. _How-_

"Thank you," she whispered, disbelief in her eyes, her voice raspy.

He nodded and she saw it again in his eyes. Nobody had ever appreciated her saying that like he did, before.

Then, he leaned forward, distinctive, yet careful, keeping his eyes on hers all the time, scanning for some kind of reaction. His hands were placed on her shoulders and he pulled her closer to him.

Her breath caught in her throat and she was confused to a level that she could almost not deal with anymore.

She wasn't sure that she was in control of herself, that she wouldn't do something she regretted, later.

But he pulled her in and softly placed a kiss on her forehead, his hand running through her hair.

"_Remember,_" he whispered "_The offer still stands. You can come to me whenever you want_."

And then, suddenly, with a gust of wind, he was gone, leaving her behind in her graduation outfit and with an utter and deep turmoil raging in her chest.

She didn't even want to think about Tyler returning, somehow it had lost all importance to her. She wanted to feel guilty about that but instead she felt her heart clenching for a whole other reason.

_Maybe what you wished for wasn't always what you wanted in the end_.


	21. unconventional means

_Anonymous asked: After watching that episode I just really need some Klaroline! Could you please write a drabble where Rebekah is unable to get Caroline back even after slapping her so she calls Klaus for help. Whatever happens after that you can decide, him trying to help over the phone or him trying to rush back to Mystic Falls maybe? :) _

_here you go love :)_

* * *

Finally, Rebekah slapped her, hoping she'd get her to get back to herself again. Caroline just kept staring off vacantly, reaching for the knife again.

"_I need to bleed. Silas wants me to bleed_."

Desperately, Rebekah grabbed Caroline's hands again. "No, you _need_ to wake up from this, now!"

Matt stepped forward, panic in his eyes. "What are we gonna do?"

Rebekah's head snapped towards him and he saw that she was just as overwhelmed as he was. "I don't know. I can hold onto her hands and stop her from doing it, but in the long run we need to snap her out of this."

He frowned, licking his lips. "How?"

"I don't have any idea!" she answered, turning her head towards him.

Suddenly realization struck in her eyes.

"What?" Matt asked, taking another step forward. "We need to stop this Rebekah."

"_My brother… _My brother went through this. He should know how to turn it off, but-"

"Then call him!"

She shook her head, here yes wide. "I will _never_ ask him for anything again. That bastard doesn't deserve even a second of my time."

Anger washed over Matt's face. "We can't leave her like this! Rebekah, she's gonna cut off her hands! Can't you get over whatever shit you've got going with him and just call him please?"

She licked her lips, looking away and then back at him.

Suddenly Caroline ripped her arms free and reached for the blade but before she could get to it, Rebekah had her pinned again. Matt shot up in shock, fear spreading on his face.

_'For Matt. For Matt you'd do anything.'_

She gulped and closer her eyes for a moment, then looked back at him.

"Fine," she said. "For you."

Then she pinned both of Caroline's wrists with one hand to get the other free to grab her phone.

She dialed the number and put the phone to her ear.

Matt sighed in relief.

She was almost hoping he wouldn't pick up but after letting it ring for a few times he actually did.

"_Sister_. What deluded little fantasy of yours tricked you into believing anything you'd have to say would be of importance to me?" His tone was cold and menacing but she gulped down the anger and the hurt and got to the point.

"Oh, I think what I have to say actually _is_ of importance to you. Silas has Caroline cutting herself and she won't stop until she's lost a hand or two."

She heard a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the line. "_What_?" His voice was suddenly very empty.

"And since you are the only one I can think of who's suffered from a similar experience before, I thought you might be able to tell us how to make her _snap out of it_."

"**Put her on the phone!**" he barked. She rolled her eyes, but complied, holding the phone to Caroline's ear.

"_Caroline_?" he said, his voice raspy and revealing a sense of vulnerability that had Rebekah almost dropping the phone.

Caroline's eyes stayed vacant, fixed on the knife.

"_I need to bleed_," she said and Rebekah heard Klaus gasping on the other side.

"Caroline," he said, his voice composed and sincere, although he couldn't hide the distress in it. "Caroline, can you hear me? You need to stop this, now."

She didn't react, keeping her gaze on the blade.

"Caroline?" he repeated.

Rebekah frowned. "Nik, I thought you had a solution. Get on with it already, I don't plan on spending the whole night holding onto her arms."

"**Well I suppose you'll have to**," she heard him barking on the other side. "Where are you?" he asked, his voice hard.

"In the Mystic Grill," she answered, holding back her anger again.

"I'll be there in two hours."

Her eyes widened in shock. "And Rebekah, I swear to you, if you just as much as _think_ about letting her go for just a second I will _hunt you down_ and put you back into a coffin to rot."

The line went dead, and Rebekah quickly put her phone back into her pocket, grabbing hold of Caroline with both hands again.

He was in New Orleans. If he wanted to get here in two hours that meant he would _run_. _He was willing to go that far for this girl_.

A pang of jealousy spread in her insides. _'Choosing her over me, again.'_

"What's happening?" asked Matt, a confused frown on his face.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then turned her head to look back at him.

"Seems like we have to spend a little more time in here after all. He's coming."

* * *

Exactly one hour and forty-four minutes later Klaus burst into the room, his clothes disheveled. Rebekah sighed in relief, but he didn't even look at her, his eyes fixed on Caroline and the bloody wrists Rebekah still held in her grasp. Matt had sit down on a barstool, and quickly got up on his feet again, staring at Klaus suspiciously.

In an instant Klaus was with them, grabbing Caroline's arms from Rebekah, his gaze traveling to the blood on her arms and then back to her face.

"Caroline," he said, his voice serious but distressed.

Rebekah had never seen her brother like this, a genuinely worried expression on his face.

"Caroline," he repeated, his hands moving up to cup her face. His eyes bore into hers, trying to find a sign of consciousness. "Caroline, you need to snap out of this. Now."

She didn't react, again, her eyes still fixed on the knife.

There had to be a way to get her attention.

Frantically, Klaus searched his mind. She'd brought him back by making him concentrate on her, making him furious.

But he had been conscious, the only illusion Silas had given him was that he had a white oak stake in his back. Caroline on the other hand seemed unable to even hold a conversation. He licked his lips and came to a decision.

His head snapped around, his murderous gaze fixed first on Rebekah, then Matt. "Stay back," he ordered and a frown spread on both their faces.

Then he turned back to Caroline.

Hopefully, this would work. Not that he minded. But she would, probably.

He leaned in and pressed his lips onto hers, kissing her softly. He felt a familiar tug in his chest as he felt the sensation of her lips on his and he had to hold back a sigh of pleasure.

He hadn't wanted this. Not like that.

"**What the hell**!" Matt shouted, shooting forward to intervene, but instinctively, Rebekah held him back, her gaze fixed on what was happening. _What was even happening?_

Right, her brother was _kissing_ Caroline.

Suddenly, he felt her responding and his heart skipped a beat. He sighed, both in relief and from the pleasure of feeling her soft lips moving on his. Her eyes were closed and he watched her as he felt his chest exploding.

He hadn't wanted this, not like this anyway. But now he found himself unable to pull away again. His hands caressed her cheeks as he told himself to pull away.

He saw her eyes opening and then widening.

Abruptly, she pulled away, slapping him right in the face.

He took a step back, pushing down his anger and kept his gaze fixed on hers. She was wide-eyed and in shock, staring back at him in disbelief.

A smirk spread on his face.

"Excuse the means, but it seems I have returned the favor and brought you back as well, love."


	22. hope

_Klaroline drabble/ after graduation 2x23_

_I got several prompts for this. Here you go. :)_

* * *

She could still feel the touch of his lips, lingering on her skin.

_He had actually allowed Tyler to come back_.

She was always trying, trying so hard to believe in the fact that things were gonna be okay, to work for it. Stay optimistic, do her best, stay smiling, keep her head held high. There was no point in giving up, in crying. Her mother didn't die. Elena turned it on again. The veil was gonna be back down soon. And, despite herself, she had almost given up on it – _Tyler was free now_.

Things were gonna be okay if she just tried hard enough. Life had proven her right once again.

_He_ had proven her right. _Klaus_.

Sometimes she felt like he was two different people.

The killer, the monster, the ruthless sociopath that had tried to murder her once.

And then this caring, sensitive, sophisticated, _perfect_ man that had proven to jump over his own shadow, just for her.

She was past wondering why, what it was about her that had him so head over heels. She was not one to underestimate herself. Doubt was not her kind of thing.

Trust was.

And for once, to a certain extent, she trusted him.

She'd been so relieved when he'd arrived.

It had been like in one of these cheesy movies, the moment she'd been in danger he'd appeared to save the day.

She hadn't even felt a single twinge of remorse or pity when he had killed the witch she'd spend weeks hating herself for, somewhere in the back of her mind.

She'd become comfortable with death, with being a vampire, a killer, to some extent.

She had allowed herself to be comfortable with him.

She had felt disappointed that he had left without saying goodbye. That was something she had accepted after Silas had attacked her. There was a reason he'd chosen to appear as Klaus.

Yes. They were friends now.

And she actually liked that idea.

But still, her breath caught at the memory of his confession.

_'I intend to be your last_.'

He was _in love with her_ and he was ready to wait. Forever.

This man that was used to taking everything he wanted by force would stand back and treat her with respect. Even more so than her friends did.

He saw her for what she was and he appreciated her in a way that she hadn't even ever expected to encounter in her life. It was like he knew her inside out, despite the fact that they'd barely even talked, despite the fact that their friendship was still a new and fragile thing.

Everything was okay, everything was alright. She'd go off to college, with Bonnie and Elena. They had a whole world to discover, a whole life to live. They'd made it. All of them.

There was nothing holding her back anymore, no reason to be unhappy.

"So…," he started, smiling at her softly, his eyebrows raised. "Since you are now officially done with the high school-part, how about you let me take you out to dinner to celebrate?"

She smiled back at him. "That sounds like a plan."

She saw a glint of delight in his eyes and she felt happiness spread in her chest in return. This was really nice.

She enjoyed the night air rustling up her hair while walking up the Mystic Grill with him, arm in arm.

She had actually graduated. So many things had happened in the past year.

She was someone else now, and she was happy about that.

"So," she asked. "What's going on over in New Orleans?"

He sighed, raising his eyebrows. "You know, love, just the usual supernatural frenzy. I have a…" he squinted his eyes. "I have an enemy over there that I need to get rid of. But he has something I want, I need to take it first."

He held open the door for her and she entered. When gestured to take her jacket she took his offer and it made her smile again. An old school-gentleman. Well, except for the killing thing, of course.

When they sat down, she decided to ask further.

"And what is that thing you want he has?"

"The city," he answered and when he saw her confused look he elaborated. "You see, me and my siblings, we built New Orleans back then. Due to the fact that I was always on the run from my father I had to leave town. That has changed now."

She frowned. "You want to have _the city_? How does that even work?"

The waitress arrived and he ordered a bourbon for himself and she nodded, ordering the same for herself and proceeded to order a burger and french fries, on which he joined her, too.

"As of now New Orleans is under vampire control. Marcel, my enemy, is the one in charge. We have… history."

She licked her lips. "So we're talking a little vampire dictatorship?"

He chuckled. "I suppose you could phrase it that way. But he prefers to refer to himself as king."

She scoffed. "Seriously, wrong century."

He shrugged. "It works for him. And it will for me."

She rolled her eyes. "So now that you can't build your little army anymore you are in desperate need of another way to oppress people. Great."

He sighed and then the waitress arrived with their drinks.

Then he smiled. "Caroline, you know who I am. I don't intend to make excuses for that."

She nodded. "I know."

"But-" she started, taking a sip of her drink, smiling playfully. "For tonight none of this matters. I have graduated. _We_ have graduated and that's all that matters right now."

He chuckled, drinking some, too. "That's the spirit."

"So, how have you been?" he asked.

Should she tell him about Silas? Well, maybe not all of the details.

"It's been a messy few days. But I managed to survive them without any major damage done." She grinned but the smile fell from his face.

"What happened?"

She sighed. "Silas tried to kill my mom. And he used me to get to Bonnie. But in the end she turned him into stone so all is well now."

His eyes hardened. "What did he do?"

She sighed again and took a sip of her drink. She was uncomfortable talking about this. But then again, she hadn't talked to anyone about it yet and with him it was hard to resist the urge to tell. "Made me think he'd stabbed me, scared me a little, made me cut myself. But he didn't do any serious damage. It's okay."

She saw emotion flickering to his eyes. Then he closed his eyes for a moment.

"I shouldn't have left."

Despite herself she felt her heart beat faster for a moment.

"Please, don't flatter yourself. You have no obligation to be here. We've been trying to get rid of you for several months now," she joked.

He shook his head and licked his lips.

"It's not like you could have done anything, anyway," she said.

The food arrived and she thanked the waitress. When she looked back at him he still looked absent somehow.

"He could have easily killed you," he finally said, his voice hard.

She nodded. "Yes, but he didn't. And this is graduation night, remember? So none of the what-ifs. None of that at all. I want to celebrate the life in front of me."

A smile crept back up on his face.

"Tell me about it," he said as they started to eat, his eyes catching hers. "What is it you plan on doing with said life?"

She broke out in a grin. "I don't really know, actually. Anything. I might just go to college with Elena and Bonnie first. We can really do anything. It will be so amazing."

His eyes softened.

"You know, I have always loved this town. But now I feel like it's time to leave. Everything is perfect, somehow."

"I'm happy to hear that," he said and smiled in a way that had her heart skip a beat again.

She took another sip of her drink.

"I still can't believe it's all over. I mean – I have basically spent all of my life in this town. And now I graduated. I managed to achieve more than I ever thought I would in the process."

She thought back to becoming Miss Mystic Falls, becoming _immortal_.

"I suppose you aced every subject."

She laughed. "Yes."

He set down his cutlery. "And now you can do whatever you wish. You are _free_. I told you before. There is a whole world waiting for you. Beauty. I am positive you will love it." The words did their magic, as usual. "Just try and stay away from the supernatural."

She nodded. "I've got my share of that already, trust me."

He took another sip of his drink. "You could come visit me sometime."

Their eyes met again and she found in herself that she actually liked the idea.

She smiled. "I just might."

She watched the happiness spread on his face and it made her heart jump again.

She was truly happy for now. Right here, right now, was where she wanted to be.

Suddenly she heard the ring of her phone.

She reached into her pocket.

"Damon," she said, frowning, then rolled her eyes. "Oh, please no more supernatural bullshit tonight."

He chuckled as she picked up.

"Hello?" she asked. To her surprise there was silence on the other end of the line.

"Damon?"

"Yes," he finally answered, his voice strained.

"I'm sorry blondie, I've got bad news."

Her eyes widened and Klaus looked at her in worry.

"What's the matter?"

"You might wanna sit down for this. Caroline. Bonnie is dead."

She dropped her fork, barely registering the noise. She was frozen.

Klaus' eyes widened in shock as he watched her, frozen as well.

"She… she died yesterday. She didn't tell us… She, she disappeared when the veil dropped. Jeremy-"

Her mind went numb, switching Damon's voice off to mute as she tried to process the information. Or rather not to.

No, no there had to be a way. _There had to be a way, there had to be a way. This couldn't be- this couldn't be happening. No. No._

"There needs to be something we can do. There has to be something. We can fix this! I'm sure there is a way – Damon, we cannot give up yet, we will be able to fix this. We have to contact some witches, I'm sure they'll know – this is probably a misunderstanding," she was rambling but she couldn't stop. The dread was creeping in, slowly making its way into her mind as she desperately tried to push it away. She felt her hand shaking.

"No," Damon said, on the other side of the line, his voice hard. Then, it softened. "Bonnie is dead, Caroline. There is nothing to be done."

She felt the tears running down her face before she'd even noticed them rising up in her eyes. She stared back at Klaus who had his gaze fixed on her, his eyes wide in worry, frowning. He became blurry.

Before she knew it she was up on her feet, out of the building.

_Where_. _Where could she go, how could she fix this. There was a way to fix this. There was no way she'd give up now, she was not going to bow down to the desperation now. There was a way._

_There always was a way. There always was-_

Klaus was with her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Caroline," he said but she just shook her head, her eyes wide while trying to wipe away the tears with her trembling hands.

"No. No. _There is a way_." She turned towards him, frantically.

"You know witches. You know witches. Call them, there has to a way, I'm sure they know-"

He shook his head. "Caroline," he repeated his voice soft.

"Caroline, there is no way."

She shook her head again. "No, no, you're lying. Bonnie can't be- Bonnie isn't-"

He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again, fixing his gaze on hers as if he wanted to make sure she understood what he was telling her.

"I am sorry, Caroline. There is no way."

Then, it crashed down on her. She gasped with the impact as the pain rolled over her and dragged her along like a wave of dread and terror.

_Bonnie was dead._

_Bonnie was dead._

_Bonnie-_

She heard herself sobbing as her legs gave in underneath her and she slumped to the ground.

Carefully, he sat down with her, his hands holding her upright as she lost control of herself.

Bonnie had graduated with them, knowing she was dead.

She had stood on that stage, taking the certificate from her father, hugging him, hugging _her_, she'd fantasized about the future with them.

_Promise this will be a friend-day_.

She collapsed.

There was no hope, there was no force that made it all okay at the end of the day. There was no way for her to fix this.

_Bonnie was dead_.

He pulled her into his chest, holding her, his hand caressing her hair as she clasped onto the fabric of his suit, sobbing uncontrollably.

She held onto him as if her life depended on it and an ironic voice in the back of her mind remarked that he was here to comfort her this time.

She was going crazy.

_Bonnie was dead._

_Nothing was okay._


	23. a little spat

_Klaroline drabble/ kinda 3x15 variation, Caroline is sent to kill Klaus_

_This is kind of a variation of 3x15, a bit loosely. Caroline is sent to kill Klaus. Angsty. Enjoy :)_

* * *

They were sitting in the Salvatore living room.

Damon held a piece of wood in his hand, a serious expression on his face. "_This_, ladies and gentlemen, is the white oak stake."

He made a dramatic pause and threw himself on the couch beside Stefan. "The only thing that can _officially and permanently_ kill off the big bad."

Caroline, nodded while Elena frowned. Bonnie's expression didn't change.

"I say we do this and we do this now. I already have a plan."

Stefan frowned. "This is dangerous Damon, we can't mess it up. We've got one chance and one chance only."

Elena nodded. "We have to do it though. We have to kill Klaus."

Damon's head snapped towards Caroline. "Blondie. He's got a thing for you."

Bonnie and Elena snapped forward at the same time. "**No-**"

Caroline shook her head and then looked around, a serious expression on her face. "I'll do it. I'll be fine."

Elena protested once again. "No, Care, this is way too dangerous! I won't let you."

"Elena, _I'll be fine_. I'm strong enough to do this and Klaus has to die, Damon is right."

Elena's head snapped towards Damon, anger written on her face.

He just raised his arms and his eyebrows. "It's her free choice."

He fixed his gaze back on Caroline. "We will be right behind you so if anything goes wrong we'll be there to help."

Bonnie turned her head towards Caroline. "Care."

The two of them looked at each other as the rest of the room grew silent. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Caroline nodded, calmly. "Yes."

Acceptance spread on her face. "Okay. I will be there. I can take him down if it gets dangerous."

Caroline smiled.

Stefan sighed. "I don't think this is a good idea…"

Damon rose.

"Let's do this. Now."

* * *

She found him in the Mystic Grill. Brilliant.

His eyes lit up when he saw her but she just ignored him and strode straight to the bar.

A moment later she could feel him behind her and then take the stool beside her.

"Caroline," her name rolled off his tongue like velvet.

She turned her head towards him, raising her eyebrows. "What do you want?"

She was taken aback by the apparent happiness on his face.

"Oh, come on love, we had a little spat, I'm over it already."

She turned her head away, keeping her chin up. "Well, I'm not." Then she waved to the waiter and ordered a drink. He already had one standing in front of him.

He was still smiling. "How can I acquit myself then?"

She rolled her eyes, still looking away.

"Come on, Caroline. Take a chance."

She hadn't expected this, this naïve happiness on his part. It was like he was a whole other person, just like at the dance. She didn't understand this. He didn't even suspect anything. Did he think she'd just hang out with him like that after everything he'd done?

She snapped her head back to him. "Fine. What do you wanna talk about?"

"You," he answered, his voice low and velvety again.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes looking away, an uncomfortable sensation building in her chest.

"Your hopes, your dreams. Everything you want in live."

It made her halt and turn her head back towards him.

He was serious.

She raised her eyebrows. "Just so you know. I'm too smart to be seduced bye you."

His smile only grew. "Well, that's why I like you."

She felt another tug in her chest. He was actually serious. He said these things as if they were nothing. Seriously, he couldn't just do that without even blinking. What the hell.

He'd been acting like this last time already but it still baffled her on two different levels.

One, she couldn't believe he'd actually think he'd stand a chance.

Two, he was honest and friendly and _serious_. Hell, he had even taken her advice from last time. It almost made her feel guilty about what she was about to do. Almost.

He had killed Jenna, Elena, turned Tyler into his slave and now here he was, acting all innocent and flirty. This guy had nerves.

Her drink arrived and she took a sip.

"Underage drinking, I see," he remarked, smirking and taking a sip himself.

"Well, it's kinda not even an issue anymore at this point. And I can always compel the waiter."

He chuckled.

"If I recall correctly your mother is the sheriff."

She nodded. "Yes, but I am also a vampire and I can handle myself."

He smiled again. "Oh, I know." His voice was low again and it unnerved her endlessly.

"So, tell me," he said, another genuine smile on his face, his eyes fixed on hers.

"There's not really much to tell. I had a pretty happy life until you turned up and messed everything up."

His face fell for a moment and she couldn't help thinking that she'd gone too far. She shouldn't make him angry. But she just couldn't hold her tongue in his presence, for someone she felt the need to be honest with him. _Yeah, and you're going to kill him in a minute_.

"If I recall correctly that already started when the Salvatores came to town." His voice was still friendly and even though he looked a little less happy she didn't see menace anywhere in his features. She couldn't take her eyes off him, trying to figure him out.

"Yes, but it was okay again until you decided to show up and kill Elena."

He sighed. "She is alive, though."

_But Jenna isn't_.

She stopped herself from saying it and took another sip of her drink.

"There's not much to know about me."

He shook his head. "Oh, I'm sure that's a lie, love."

"Right now I just want to keep my friends safe. Which is kinda difficult with you and your family around."

He fixed his gaze on hers again. "I have no business with them anymore. If they don't test me nothing stands in the way of coexisting peacefully."

She couldn't look away again. Great.

She gulped down the rest of her drink. "I think I'll go home."

He rose, too. "Let me take you."

She stared at him. This was the moment.

She rolled her eyes. "_Fine_."

The smile that appeared on his face in return made her insides clench and she felt almost guilty.

He left money on the counter and she stalked out of the Grill, him following behind her.

Every step she took she felt like more weight was resting on her shoulders. Snap out of this.

They walked a few steps, into empty streets and suddenly she turned towards him.

She fixed her eyes on him and he halted, looking right back at her with suspense.

"Klaus," she said as she leaned towards him, slowly and carefully.

His breath hitched and the look in his eyes turned serious.

She could feel his breath on her face as she looked up to him, finding herself unable to break the contact again. They stayed like this for a moment.

She needed to do this.

She closed her eyes and leaned in further quickly, placing her lips on his. She felt him still and his breath hitch again and then suddenly his hand was in her hair and he kissed her back.

Despite herself, she felt a jolt of electricity at the contact and a feeling of wonder and ecstasy spread in her chest. _Oh_.

She had not expected this.

Feeling his lips move on hers, his hands pulling her closer, felt good. _Way too good_.

She shook herself out of it and guilt claimed her now. Alright, she had to do this.

As swiftly as she could she pulled out the stake and aimed it at his heart but before she felt it hitting his chest his hand clasped around her wrist and he broke the kiss, ripping it from her hands.

_SHIT. NO. HOLY-_

She stared up at him, her eyes wide in dread.

She saw uncontained fury in his and, even worse, _hurt_. Then his jaw clenched and his eyes hardened.

Damon and Bonnie had to be around-

Before she could even finish the thought she felt him grab her and then she was whisked away, so fast that she couldn't even keep up with it.

* * *

When he released her she found herself in the middle of the forest.

She stumbled backwards, eyes fixed on his eyes, fear and anticipation cursing through her veins.

He was furious. He took a threatening step towards her.

"**So you thought that you can trick ****_ME_****, fool ****_ME_****!**" he barked, his features contorted.

She backed away, letting out a sharp breath as she watched his jaw clench again, untamed anger in his eyes. He took another step forward and she backed away further until she found her back hitting a tree.

She was truly terrified now. He was going to kill her.

There was nothing to say.

He closed in further until his face was inches from hers.

"I _warned_ you," he said, his voice low and hard.

She gulped, unable to say anything.

"You know," he began, the familiar menace in his voice as he placed one hand beside her head against the tree. "No one who ever tried that lived to see another day."

She felt her heart sinking in her chest. No one was here to help her.

Her mind raced. All she had to count on were his affections towards her, something she did not even begin to understand. Who was she kidding, this was _Klaus_.

She couldn't move. She shook herself out of it.

"Then kill me," she said, going all in, staring right back at him.

His expression didn't change but she saw him clenching his teeth again.

Suddenly, his hand snapped up and the stake was placed against her chest.

She couldn't control herself and a terrified little shriek escaped her lips as her eyes darted downwards and then back to his.

His expression didn't change.

She gulped.

These might be her last moments.

Her heart was racing and she found herself unable to look away again.

"Tell me, Caroline," he said, his voice velvety again. "Do you want to die?"

Her eyes widened.

Her breath hitched in her throat but she managed to shake her head. "No," she said and it was true.

Never, even in her darkest moments, had she wanted to die.

Instead, what she found when she found herself being tortured by the werewolves, or her father, or when she'd killed someone, was that she wanted to live. Despite everything, always.

_She did not want to die_.

Tears rose up to her eyes but she forced them down.

Suddenly she saw emotion flicker through his eyes but it disappeared in an instance.

He leaned in a little more, eyes still fixed on hers.

"If you ever try anything like this again, I promise you that I will end you."

_What?_

Suddenly he'd backed away, standing a few steps away from her and the fury claimed his face again.

He stared at her, threateningly.

"Now, **RUN**! Or I _will_ kill you."

She let out a shake breath, a hollow sensation spreading in her chest. Then, realization it her as she saw his face grow angry again and she did as she was told and _ran_.

She didn't stop until she was home and then turned around, scared that he could have followed her.

She was not safe here.

She ran to Elena's place and entered without ringing the bell.

She sank down against the wall and let out a deep, shaky sigh.

He hadn't killed her.

_Why hadn't he killed her?!_

She found herself immobile for a moment and closed her eyes, savoring the relief rushing over her.

_She was alive_.


	24. seriously

_Can you do a drabble about Klaus still not accepting the baby ,so Elijah goes to Caroline and asks her to help him convincing Klaus?_

_Here you go wifey :D Hope you enjoy it. this is probably the funniest thing i ever wrote. i lolled all over the keyboard._

* * *

Afternoon classes had ended and she was on her way to her dorm. She planned on leaving her things there and then spend the afternoon catching up with her reading in a small café she loved. Elena was out with Damon and she had found she could work better outside than in their dorm room. Also, she really quite enjoyed the chai latte the place made and kinda had a girl-cursh on one of the waitresses.

She fiddled with her keys as suddenly she felt someone appear behind her, way too quickly to be human. She flashed around, ready to defend herself if necessary and was confronted with a familiar face.

"Elijah," she gasped, straightening herself.

She very well remembered the time when everyone had feared him, back in Mystic Falls. He didn't seem as much of a threat right now but it would be wise to be careful.

"Miss Forbes," he said, nodding his head shortly.

"I apologize in case I startled you, it was not my intention."

Yeah, vampire-sneak up on someone and then claim not to want to 'startle' them. Jeez.

"Uhm, no, it's okay," she said, eyeing him wearily.

"I mean no harm," he said, raising his hands. "I do not mean to interrupt your day. There is a matter I would like to discuss with you. I would be delighted if you could grant me a bit of your time."

Okay. Well.

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

Elijah looked around. Geez, this guy really looked and spoke like he'd jumped out of another century, even more so than Klaus. Nope, Klaus just appeared like a well spoken psychopath. Elijah seemed like the perfect gentleman – who'd rip your heart out in a second. Why did she have to deal with these people again?

"Is there a location you'd prefer to converse at?"

She thought for a moment. Better not be alone with him, she didn't know him enough for that. "Uhm, yeah, there is a nice little café that sounds like a good idea. Can you just wait here for a moment while I leave my stuff upstairs."

He nodded. "Of course."

She raised her eyebrows, giving him a small smile and then entered the building and went up to their dorm room. She repacked her bag and then fixed her hair again, quickly.

What in the hell could he want from her? Probably had to do something with Klaus. What was he doing anyway? She hadn't seen or heard from him since graduation. She sighed deeply and then headed downstairs again.

* * *

"So," Elijah began. They were seated in the café that was empty except for them and the waitress who was busy behind the counter. While she had her favorite latte, he had chosen tea, go figure. "To be direct. There is a request I'd like to ask of you."

She raised her eyebrows and waited.

He sighed and raised his cup to his mouth, taking a small sip and putting it back down. Jesus, did this guy _ever_ do anything the normal way? He'd probably even take a dump in a sophisticated way if he could. "I've been made aware that you happen to have a certain hold on my brother."

So she'd been right, this was about Klaus. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Aka: He didn't kill her despite himself. Wonderful.

"I suppose you're not aware of his… _situation_?" He gave her an inquiring look.

She frowned. "What situation."

Elijah let out another deep sigh. "I'm afraid it might come as a bit of a shock."

She took a sip of her chai and looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

Elijah fixed his serious gaze on her.

"The breaking of his curse apparently had another unforeseen side effect. Niklaus… has regained the ability to procreate."

Procre- **WHAT**. Her mouth flew open as her eyes widened.

"**What?**"

Elijah nodded. "He is expecting a child."

She gaped at him, unable to process the information.

Unable to close her mouth she stared down at her drink.

Klaus was_ expecting a child. A child. A BABY_.

She stared back at Elijah, still unable to find her composure. "This is gotta be a prank."

He raised his eyebrows. "I do not '_prank_', Miss Forbes."

She let out a dry laugh and then turned her head towards the waitress. "Alli, I think I'm gonna need a tequila."

Alli laughed as she started pouring it and Caroline fixed her gaze back at Elijah.

"You're seriously telling me Klaus is gonna be _a father_? This is a freaking _disaster_!"

He seemed slightly offended. "Well, that's not quite how I would phrase it."

She let out another dry laugh. "Hello, have you _met_ you brother?!"

He sighed and raised his cup again, taking another sip and Alli placed her drink before Caroline.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at her and then snapped her head back to Elijah.

"How is this even _possible_?"

"_One of nature's loopholes_," he mumbled and she let out another dry laugh.

Then she downed half of her drink.

"I feel like I'm in a bad horror movie. Or worse, Twilight."

He raised his eyebrows again. "Excuse me?"

She shook her head. "Never mind."

Then she stared down at the drink in her hands. Well. Okay. Then she frowned and looked back at him as she felt an uncomfortable pulling sensation in her stomach.

"Who's the mother?"

"I don't know if you're familiar with her. It's a young wolf by the name of Hayley."

Her jaw dropped and she almost knocked over her drink.

**THE FUCK EVEN – WHAT?!**

"**WHAT?** **YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME?**"

Both Elijah and Alli looked at her. While Alli seemed amused, Elijah seemed very much surprised.

"So you _are_ familiar with her?"

Caroline raised her hands to her forehead, letting out another dry laugh, this time it almost sounded like she was sobbing.

"Seriously, _seriously_!"

She looked back at him.

"I thought he had _killed_ her." She laughed again. "Instead he _fucked her_? Wait-"

Right now nothing would come as a surprise to her. And quite frankly, this hurt like shit, even if she'd never admit it. However long it takes, my ass.

"Klaus is _with _Hayley?"

He shook his head. "Quite the contrary, actually. Unfortunately, my brother has a way of mistreating the poor girl. She knows how to stand her ground, however."

Despite herself, she felt relief rushing over her. She was almost sorry for Hayley. Almost.

She drank some more of the tequila.

"And what do _I_ have to do with all this?"

Elijah nodded, while taking another sip of his tea.

"Yes, right. However unfortunate you find this situation to be, I chose to see it as a chance. A chance to reunite my family."

She frowned.

"My family and I, we used to share a strong bond. Over the centuries, that changed. You are familiar with my siblings."

She nodded. Yep, crazy psychopaths. A bunch of moody serial killers.

"I managed to persuade Rebekah to come to New Orleans. My brother, however, has proven to be a little more difficult. As of now he is… having a fit. He's considering ridding himself of both the girl and the baby."

She rolled her eyes.

"Well, what a surprise."

He cleared his throat and took another sip of tea.

"I came here to ask you to try and persuade him to do the right thing."

She raised her eyebrows.

Then she laughed again.

Then she downed the rest of her drink.

"So," she said, feeling a bit dizzy now. "You want to _raise a kid_ with a family of _crazy serial killer vampires_. And you want me to help you do it."

He shook his head. "Just talk to him."

She sighed.

Given, she _did_ have somewhat of an influence on him. He'd freed Tyler for her.

This wasn't exactly her business, and she didn't really feel like making it that. But there was a _baby_ involved, an innocent kid, an unborn one. A baby and _Klaus_.

This was like the worst idea ever.

She sighed, defeated. "Okay."


	25. full moon

_Could you write a drabble where Caroline is saved by Klaus in his wolf form :)_

_for Brynnie: here you go :D lots of love_

* * *

She was anxious at this point, something that rarely every happened. She was supposed to meet Tyler here. It was an annual ritual and they'd been doing it for almost a decade now. He lived here, in the Appalachians, with his pack that had gradually come to accept her occasional presence even though she was a vampire, because he was their alpha. She'd been skimming the woods now, for almost a week. Nothing, no one. Their usual meeting place was completely abandoned, the little village they'd built for themselves empty. She'd tried calling him countless times but he never picked up.

She was sitting in Tyler's house now, literally biting her nails.

_What if something had happened to him. What if-_

She shook her head and forbade herself to think further in that direction. It was no use. She was going to fix this situation and she was not one to be pessimistic, ever. His phone was not turned off, so there was hope.

She was going to call up Stefan or Damon next thing tomorrow. Tonight though, she'd have to stay inside and put her search on hold. Tonight was full moon. And she was sure as hell not stupid enough to leave the house on a full moon night, in a place that was supposed to be swarming with werewolves.

She'd grabbed a few DVD's Tyler's girlfriend Allison kept and planned to spend the evening watching them, drinking cocoa and indulging in the new pasta recipe she'd recently discovered. It would take her mind off things. She was running out of blood bags, she'd have to leave soon.

She placed her phone on the counter and started cooking.

* * *

Her phone was ringing. She shot up from her comfortable seating position on the sofa and grabbed it in frenzy.

_Tyler_.

Her eyes widened and she picked up.

"Tyler?" she gasped into the phone.

The other end of the line was silent.

"Tyler? _Tyler, are you there_?"

Finally, she heard ragged breathing on the other end of the line.

"_Caroline_," he croaked, his breathing ragged.

"Tyler, are you okay?"

"_Don't leave the house_," he whispered, then suddenly she heard a loud noise and him screaming in pain.

Tears shut up to her eyes. "Tyler! What is happening?"

She heard another noise.

"Hello, Caroline," a familiar voice answered, drained in menace. It was Dylan, a member of Tyler's pack. She'd never liked him and he had never liked her. There had been an instance where Tyler had literally had to tear the two of them apart.

"We're at the meeting place. If you don't show up in thirty minutes, Tyler will be dead."

"**WHAT**? Dylan, what's going on?!"

"You heard me bitch."

Then the line went dead.

* * *

The moon was up when she arrived and dread claimed her chest as she arrived at the meeting point. This was suicide.

But she didn't have a choice. She hadn't changed in that regard, she would do anything for her friends. She would never be able to let Tyler die, he was her best friend beside Stefan. If there was a chance to safe him she'd take it.

The space was abandoned and empty as she'd found it on the first day. She cursed, never keeping her eyes off her surroundings.

She had to be strong and focused now. And she was, she could take almost anything on if she had to but there were things that were just stronger than her. Like a bunch of turned wolves on a full moon.

She gulped. They'd have to have changed by now. Tyler was the only living hybrid besides Klaus, so he didn't have to but his pack still did.

Suddenly she heard a noise, several noises. She turned around and gulped heavily at the sight unfolding before her.

Wolves.

Not just Tyler's pack. Forty, fifty of them.

She was dead.

There was no way around it.

For a second time stood still, she stared at them and they stared back at her, snarling and visibly ready to attack, having spotted their natural enemy. None of them were conscious at this point, their inner beasts had taken over. From her time here she'd learned that only hybrids were able to keep their control when turning. There was no arguing, no talking to them. They were gonna tear her to pieces. She'd be dead before she even felt the venom surging through her veins.

Strangely enough, she didn't feel fear. She didn't feel anything at all.

Her mind was racing. Back in Tyler's house was a safe cellar where she'd usually spend her full moons when she was here.

There was no way she'd be able to reach it in time.

She turned and ran.

The spell was broken, she heard them howl, snarl, bark behind her, their claws digging into the forest floor as they followed her. The chorus of her nightmares.

It was the first time she felt like the prey instead of the hunter, ever since she'd left Mystic Falls.

She could not die now.

She would not die now.

But she could feel them closing in, they were faster than she was.

She spotted the village in the distance. She'd have sped up if she could.

Then she heard it, a feral growl right behind her, another beside her.

They'd caught up with her.

Next thing she knew was a weight crushing against her from behind, knocking her forward into the forest floor. She felt the leaves and the dirt in her face, her cheeks bruising at the impact as she was unable to dodge the fall with her arms.

She tried to scramble to her feet again, to throw him off of her but then another wolf was on her, too and suddenly she felt teeth rip into her leg and her shoulder.

Instantaneously the fear crashed down on her.

She was going to die, _she was going to die, she was going to die_.

Another bite, then another. She was pinned to the ground, unable to move as she felt a piece of flesh being ripped out of her arm. She screamed in pain. She was going to be eaten alive.

The panic took over, she struggled with all her might and managed to throw one off, only to be dragged down again. _She was going to die_.

Teeth piercing into the back of her knee, ripping out flesh. This would not heal. She could already feel the venom coursing through her veins.

She screamed again, louder now, all control leaving her for a moment.

No.

_No!_

Terror claimed her and she wailed, burying her nails in the limb of one of the countless wolves gathering around her.

Then, suddenly, part of the weight was gone. A wail. Another one gone, she felt the impact of the blow this time. Running on instinct only, she scrambled to her feet, only to fall down again. Her legs were torn to shreds, walking or even standing was not an option. She ripped her head around to see the wolves backing off around her, forming a circle.

In front of her there was another wolf, one bigger than the rest.

What was happening?

The wolf that had been on top of her, _Dylan_, she noticed, was cowering before the big one, obviously hurt.

Then, the new wolf flashed forward and, in one clean motion, ripped off Dylan's head.

Her eyes widened as blood splattered on her face. Not that it would make a difference anyway. She felt her mind get foggy and her blood boiling, the venom taking its toll. She doubled forward in pain, supporting herself on her arms, that almost gave in, too.

Through blurred vision she saw the wolves cowering, one by one, in front of the big one. They were submitting.

It was not Tyler, she knew what Tyler looked like as a wolf.

This was someone else.

Her arms gave in and she slumped forward, her vision fading as she watched the big wolf mercilessly ripping through and killing some of the other wolves around her.

Coherent thought had fled her mind and she didn't even try and make sense of the scenario unfolding around her as everything turned black.

* * *

She woke up to a familiar taste on her tongue.

Was this heaven? No, heaven wouldn't hurt that much. Every inch of her body felt like it was burning in a dreadfully familiar manner. Why wasn't she dead yet?

With every ounce of blood she swallowed she felt it easing up and finally she was strong enough to move her arms and latch onto her arm she was feeding on, extracting her fangs and sucking as furiously as she possibly could.

"Drink, love," she heard a voice whisper behind her and she recognized it immediately.

_Klaus_. This was Klaus.

Her mind was still a blur but it sharpened every second now.

She didn't stop drinking, feeling the energy return to her limbs. The pain was fading until it was gone completely. She pulled away, and found her back slumped against a hard chest.

Klaus, right.

What was he doing here?

She turned towards him, pulling away a little as he lowered his hand.

Immediately, her eyes widened.

He was naked.

_Completely. Absolutely. Naked._

She forced herself to keep her eyes on his face. He was tense, but he also looked gravely relieved.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to keep the blush from her face.

"I could ask you the same thing," he answered, his expression serious. "Pray tell, love, how the bloody hell did you manage to get yourself in this situation?"

She frowned, then her eyes widened again. "Tyler… Tyler! Have you seen Tyler?"

He shook his head. "I haven't."

She clasped her hands over her mouth. "Oh my god," she whispered. "They must have killed him."

He said nothing to deny her.

"I came here because there is a war going on here. Apparently a few werewolf-clans had a run in that resulted in one of their alpha's mates to be killed and now they have been at each other's throats for a month. I dropped by to see if I could use the situation to my advantage."

She took it in and then nodded.

"I meet Tyler once a year here. But this time around he was gone. Until Dylan called me tonight and told me he'd kill him if I didn't make an appearance."

Fury spread on Klaus face. "And you _came here_? Do you _want_ to die?"

"I didn't have a choice!" she snapped back at him, now angry, too.

Unfortunately, she'd forgotten about keeping her eyes on his face for a moment and she immediately regretted that, a blush creeping up her face.

Suddenly the tension faded and a small smirk spread on his face.

"Let's get you inside and dressed," she mumbled, getting up on her feed.

"As you wish," he answered, getting up but making no attempts to cover himself so she just looked away and led the way.

Assessment of the situation: She should be dead, but she wasn't.

Her clothes were ragged and bloody and she could still vividly remember the pain and the certainty of death. She gulped it down as they kept on walking.

The wolf that had saved her must have been Klaus. Apart from Tyler, there was no other wolf that could keep his consciousness while turning. It also explained why he was here and, uhm, _buttnaked_. No, there was no doubt.

She'd never been more lucky in her life.

She turned towards him, keeping her eyes on his face this time. "Thank you," she said, her voice serious and grateful.

He kept his eyes on hers, his expression serious again and stopped walking for a moment.

"Caroline, how could you have been so stupid? Placing yourself right into the middle of a werewolf-war. If I had arrived any second later you might have," he paused, obviously struggling with himself as his eyes darkened. "You _would_ have died."

She nodded. "I thought I was already dead."

His gaze darkened even more as he placed his hands on her shoulders. Her breath hitched at the contact and his proximity and once again she couldn't tear her gaze from his.

"I won't let you," he said, and it almost sounded like a threat.

She gulped and then, suddenly he let go of her and continued walked towards the village.

She closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the fact that she was actually still alive.

She'd have to pull herself together, take a shower and then look for Tyler.

Klaus.

She'd never been more happy to see him, and she knew it wasn't just because he saved her live. She'd been staying away from him purposely for over a decade now.

She gulped again.

Alright, focus on Tyler now.


	26. curse

_requested by royharperme: Caroline accidently kills a hunter; and Klaus has to look after her as she goes insane whilst Rebekah and ELijah try to find another hunter to activate there powers, but with no success, and Klaus has to decide whether to keep her, but insane, or kill her, and loose her forever._

_This is now officially the most depressing thing I ever wrote._

_Warning: __**very**__ dark, angst, smut, trigger warning._

_Thank you so much for the request, I really needed that right now. :)_

* * *

_It happened in Paris. The first time he felt the regret, thought the words destined to become his constant companion for the rest of his eternity. They'd had a fight, nothing serious, a bagatelle, really. And to be honest, in secret he was already looking forward to the making-up part. Despite his usual vengefulness, he found himself unable to stay mad at her for long, never had been, even back in the very beginning, back in Mystic Falls. _

_He wasn't there when she was attacked._

_He wasn't there when she defended herself, snapped the man's neck in one clean motion._

_He was, however, present when the hallucinations started._

_When she started talking to empty space, when she started sobbing for no apparent reason, when a glint of madness slowly found its way into her eyes, when she took off her daylight ring. When she begged him to let her die. When she begged him to kill her._

_Why weren't you there to protect her the one time she needed you._

* * *

Distinctively, she threw her shopping bags to the ground, aware that he could hear her back in the other part of the house. He was there, she recognized him by the noises he produced, stalking about the room, shuffling about things. Typically Klaus. She snorted and made her way to the kitchen, getting herself a blood bag out of the refrigerator and put it into her favorite mug to heat it up in the microwave. B positive, warm, but not too warm.

She decided to spice it up with a bit of bourbon and returned to the living room and made her way to the bar and picked up the bottle. She cocked her head to the side, thought for a moment and then loudly banged the door of the lower part of the bar. She heard him growl back in his study and a satisfied smile crept up her face as she turned around.

It fell from her face instantly, and in shock she dropped the bottle. It crashed into a thousand pieces at her feet but she didn't even hear the noise it produced.

Before her stood her father.

Her dead father.

He stood there, smiling at her and she closed her eyes for a moment only to find that he was still there when she opened them again.

"Sweetheart, don't you think you're exaggerating a bit?" she heard Klaus' annoyed voice growling and she turned her head, wide eyed and saw him standing in the door frame, glowering at her.

She didn't say anything, just turned her head back to her father.

He was gone.

She gasped, staring at the empty space.

What the hell had just happened?

"Caroline?" Klaus asked, now less annoyed and more confused.

She found herself immobile, her heart racing in her chest.

Then, suddenly, she heard the noise of the microwave, indicating that her blood was done warming up. It pulled her out of her trance.

"Sorry," she mumbled, flustered and made her way to the kitchen to get stuff to clean up the mess.

He frowned, confused by the fact that she had apologized even though she'd been so intent on making sure he knew she was angry, before. Something was off.

But when she came out of the kitchen again, a cocky expression fixed on her face, ignoring his presence completely while cleaning up, he just let it go and returned to his study.

* * *

She had one hair buried in his hair, pulling it while the other was violently scratching marks down his back. To say it was a turn-on was an understatement. He quickened his pace, attacking her mouth furiously and she moaned, grasping onto him even tighter. Then, he moved kissing down her jaw to the back of her ear, and grabbed harder onto her backside, shifting the angle.

He kissed down her neck, finding the pulsing vein and bit down gently. She moaned again, moving against him. "Asshole," she snarled and he smirked, pulling away to look at her again.

"How about you retaliate, then?" he asked.

Angry sex was always the best. Well, definitely in the top ten.

She smirked back at him, but suddenly her face fell.

Pure terror claimed her eyes and he immediately stopped moving, a deep frown on his face.

"Caroline?" he asked, but she didn't respond, staring at him in an expression that he knew too well. On other people's faces, never on hers. She was looking at him as if she was afraid for her life.

He put his hand to her cheek, while he felt something crashing and burning inside his chest. "Caroline? What's going on?"

She didn't move. Then, suddenly, she pushed him away, tears spilling out of her eyes.

"**GET OFF ME! DON'T TOUCH ME!**"

He backed away immediately, staring down at her in absolute terror and confusion.

Then she turned her head, and moved her arms up to her face as if she was shielding it.

"_Don't kill me, don't kill me. Please, please, don't kill me. Please,_" she whimpered and he lost his calm, gripping her upper arms in a desperate motion.

"**CAROLINE, WHAT IS HAPPENING?**"

She kept shaking her head, sobbing violently so he let go of her again and backed off, unable to come up with a solution. _What was happening to her?_

He watched her for a few moments, lost as to finding a way to calm her down.

Then, suddenly, it stopped.

She lowered her arms, her eyes still widened in shock and stared at him.

"_What_-" she asked, disbelief in her voice. Then she sat up in one swift motion, still staring at him.

"What-"

He looked back at her, worry painting his face. "Caroline, what happened?"

She opened her mouth as if to say something and then closed it again, shaking her head again.

He moved forward, carefully, afraid that he could trigger whatever had happened before to happen again and pulled her into his arms. She relaxed against him and he sighed in relief.

"_I think I hallucinated_," she whispered.

He frowned. Why would she hallucinate? _What had she hallucinated_?

Maybe it was the bite. Instantly, guilt settled in his guts and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. This had never happened before.

"Maybe you should drink, love," he said, his voice hoarse.

She moved up her head that was resting on his chest and bit down on his neck, carefully.

He pulled her closer as he felt her taking in his blood.

_Why would she hallucinate_?

* * *

They sat at breakfast the next morning and she acted as if nothing had happened.

He, however, hadn't forgotten about. A familiar feeling had taken root in his chest, something he hadn't felt ever since he had her.

Powerlessness, guilt, fear, anger. Something was off.

He'd ask one of his trusted witches next thing after breakfast.

Seeing her like this had shaken him to his core and it was not something he wanted to repeat.

While she was cleaning up the dishes he went off to his study, his mind fixed on the task at hand. He was skipping through the book that he kept his rarely used contacts in when he heard her scream.

Immediately, he flashed back to the kitchen, finding her standing there, staring into empty space again, just as she had yesterday.

"**Caroline, what's wrong?**" he barked, making his way to her quickly.

She turned her head towards him, fear and confusion painting her face.

"I…," she started and then looked down, her gaze betraying the thousand thoughts that went through her mind.

Suddenly, realization seemed to dawn on her and she looked back at him, her hands clasping over her mouth.

He took another step towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Tell me, love," he said. His patience was wearing thin.

She just stared at him.

Then, finally, she responded, her voice so quit that he wouldn't have heard it without his supernatural hearing. "_I think I killed a hunter_."

* * *

"_You can't be serious, Nik_," Rebekah whispered at the other end of the line.

"**I ****_am_**** serious. Stop whatever you're doing and find me a hunter!**" he barked into the phone, his hand clutching to the edge of his desk, almost crushing it under his force.

"I recognize the magnitude of the situation, Niklaus. But how are we supposed to do that?"

"**I don't care!**" he barked again, then took a deep shaky breath and closed his eyes for a moment.

"I can't leave her by herself."

He heard Rebekah crying on the other end of the line. If only heightened his anger.

She knew exactly what this meant.

She knew because she'd been there to witness it on him.

_He_ knew exactly what it meant.

* * *

He had the room built in one day.

It contained no wood, had no windows. Only a metal bed and a shower in the corner of the room.

She convinced him not to go in yet.

As horrifying as the hallucinations were she was determined to try and deal with them without locking herself in, yet. Even when he promised to go in with her.

She would not kill herself. She'd never kill herself.

In all the torture and pain she'd endured in her life there had always been the one certainty that she didn't want to die. When everything else was gone, everything, everyone else, even all she knew about herself, the one thing that had always persisted, the red threat that helped her get up on her feet every single time was the absolute, self-evident certainty of her will to live.

She was not easily beaten.

An expression she'd never seen on him before painted his face as she told him.

But he complied with her wishes.

He never left her alone though, always hovering somewhere in the same room as her, patiently waiting out the hallucination and ready to comfort her afterwards.

But as much as he tried to cover it up she saw that look in his eyes.

_Fear_.

* * *

_"You're a monster, sweetheart," her father said and she just turned away and tried to ignore him. Ignore the searing pain seeing him caused her._

_"You know it in your heart. I am waiting for you. You belong on the other side."_

Klaus sat by, watching her attentively. She hadn't given any indication that she was hallucinating again, but he always seemed to know.

_"Do you remember when I picked you up from summer camp. Back when you were ten?"_

_She continued skipping through the magazine in front of her, not raising her gaze._

_"Don't ignore me, Caroline, please. You know I love you."_

She fought back the tears.

This was not real.  
This was not real.

This was not a chance to see him again. This was a death-trap.

_"You owe me this much. I died because of you." _

Her breathing halted and her hand grabbed tighter onto the page she was looking at.

_"If you hadn't become a vampire I wouldn't have come back into town. Tyler would never have called me. You should have ended it when you killed the boy."_

Right, how could she forget.

_He moved forward, leaning down so that he was face to face with her._

_"You killed him Caroline. He was only doing his job. He just got it. He was so excited about it, his first real job after college. You know, he was struggling really hard before that. His mother had just died."_

Lies, lies, there was no way he could know that.

_"You killed me, Caroline," another voice said and she couldn't stop herself from raising her head._

_He was there, right in front of her. Her first kill, covered in blood, looking at her with wide eyes._

_"I just wanted to be happy, Caroline. I just wanted to get over the pain and get up on my feet again. I just wanted to rise above it and have a better future."_

She lost it. She was unable to look away.

_"But you did that instead of me, didn't you? You took my future from me and made it yours."_

She wanted to say something, but nothing came out of her mouth. She _knew_ it wasn't real, she _knew_ it was manipulation. But it hit her nonetheless, right into the core.

It was as if her rational mind was slowly losing control. She could tell herself again and again but the dread kept slipping in. It was as if there was a switch that constantly flipped back, no matter how many times she fixed it into place.

"_Everything you have, everything you ever achieved is built on my death. You stole my happiness._"

She shook her head and jumped off the chair, fighting back the tears.

"This is not real, this is not real," she repeated.

Instantly, Klaus was by her side, placing his hands on her shoulders as she firmly held her eyes closed.

She would flip the switch however often it would have to be flipped.

* * *

_"Honestly, Caroline. I never forgot how you tried to jump me the first chance you're god. Honestly, Care, you were pathetic. I never told you because I didn't want to hurt you. God, there was so much I never said because of that. You really thought you were helping me not give into the bloodlust? Honest to god, with your self-righteous, ignorant attitude and your feigned compassion, you made it worse. You don't have any idea how often I wanted to say that to your face. I never did. Because of Elena."_

_Stefan._

_"We were never friends. I hated you ever since you became a vampire. Actually, I hated you before that. You always clung to Elena and me, god, you were such a bitchy brat. Did you ever wonder why we never spend the holidays with you? All that times we said we didn't have time for you? We needed you as bait later, so we kept you close. You were always so selfish. God, you disgust me."_

_Bonnie._

_"I always had to hold back so much around you, Caroline. Do you know why you became Miss Mystics? Because I asked the judges for it. They originally wanted to crown me, but because I asked and I was grieving they complied. I always did that, all the time. I wanted to make you feel loved. Because, honestly, I was sorry for you. And you were always so full of yourself. You actually thought you were the queen of the school. You didn't realize how everyone was always laughing behind your back. And then you betrayed me. When I was going through my most difficult time yet, you couldn't even support me. After all I'd done for you. What Damon did to you was your own fault for being such a needy slut."_

_Elena._

_"You know, blondie, I had a reason to choose you as my victim back then. Because you emitted all around you, the air of a victim, a needy, ugly little thing. Nobody ever loved you and you wanted to be love so, so bad. But no one could ever love you. You're a waste of space. You are immensely annoying and you don't even notice how everyone turns their heads away from you when you enter the room. Little bitch. Do you remember Caroline? Do you remember the first night I drank from you, the night I didn't compel you yet? Do you remember what happened afterwards? I can do it again if you'd like. I know you enjoyed it."_

_Damon._

_"You repulse me. I never wanted to be with you, you forced me into it. And it got worse when you became a vampire. You were so sure of yourself. You only became worse of a person after you turned. I meant what I said. I can't even look at you. You make me want to vomit. I'm so sorry for Tyler. You latched onto him right after I dumped you, right?"_

_Matt._

_"You chose Klaus over me. Klaus killed my mother. He drowned her. Do you remember how you died? No air. Remember, remember well. That is what Klaus did to my mother. Do you know what he did to my pack? He ripped out their heart, he chopped off their heads. You're a fucking slut, I knew that before, that's why I chose you. You were easy to get into bed, just like Vicki. But I never would have thought that you'd stoop that low."_

_Tyler._

* * *

It got harder every day. The hallucinations increased. She rarely had a free hour now.

Her mind was working overtime, and she'd grown constantly tried, vacant. She did her best to overplay it but he saw right through it.

They had nice moments in between. When he held her. When they watched TV. Sometimes he even managed to make her laugh.

Sometimes he'd wake up in the morning and for a moment he'd have forgotten about the circumstances, pulling her closer and kissing her, their legs entangled. But when he opened his eyes and saw the safe room they were sleeping he'd be ripped right back into reality.

He pretended not to feel the fear and the guilt consuming him.

* * *

_Why weren't you there to protect her the one time she needed you._

* * *

He had his back to her, barking into the phone at Elijah, when he smelled it.

_Burning flesh_.

When he turned around his biggest nightmare unfolded before him.

She stood in the window, motionless as the fire started consuming her skin.

No matter how much she begged him not to, they moved to the room that night.

He couldn't bear to lose her.

He couldn't even bear to think about it.

* * *

He buried his face in his hands and she turned her head towards him, worry spreading on her face. She placed her hand on his shoulder, but he didn't react.

"Klaus?" she asked him.

"I can't do this anymore," he said, his voice hard.

_What_?

"I- What do you mean?" she asked, dread creeping into her. "I told you, you don't have to stay in here with me all the time."

He didn't move.

Then, suddenly, he turned towards her, hurt and a hint of anger in his eyes.

"I never thought it'd be like this," he said. Then, suddenly, he gripped her upper arms.

Her eyes widened at the sudden motion.

From one instant to the next, his face turned to stone.

"Klaus?" she asked.

He cocked his head to the side, eyeing her like she was something else, not his wife, an object, something disposable. She'd never seen him look at her like that.

Suddenly, she was pinned down on the bed.

A menacing smirk spread on his face and he leaned in to whisper in her ear as she froze in fear.

"You've become nothing but a burden. I should just get rid of you."

Something was off, something was wrong with this but the dread that claimed her made it impossible to think. She felt tears running down her eyes.

He leaned back a little again, changing into his hybrid face.

"_Goodbye, Caroline_," he whispered and then, in one clean motion he moved towards her neck, his intent clear. She screamed.

Nothing.

When she opened her eyes again she found him watching her, from the other side of the bed, pain evident in his eyes. They were wet.

"Is it over?" he asked and she closed her eyes again as relief rushed over her.

The tears didn't stop flowing, no matter how much she willed them to.

Her mind was blurry, foggy.

It had to have been a hallucination.

Why was she hallucinating again?

"Can I come over?" he asked, his voice hollow and in the back of her mind something clicked.

He must have known. He must have heard her say his name.

She had to be strong for him.

She wiped away the tears, rose and moved towards him, cuddling up in his arms. He pulled her closer, his hand stroking over her hair as she buried her head in his chest.

They didn't talk about it.

* * *

"There are no hunters anymore, Nik," Rebekah sobbed. "Silas is _dead_. She must have killed one of the last. We asked every witch we could find. We even had one contact Quetsiyah. There is no way."

* * *

Minutes.

They only had minutes now.

She didn't sleep anymore and neither did he.

* * *

_It's my fault._

_It's all my fault._

_The 12 witches, the boy, the officers._

_Elena, Stefan, Damon, Tyler, Bonnie, Matt, Elijah, Rebekah, Marcel. Klaus._

_They're all dead._

_I killed them._

_I killed them._

_They're all dead._

_They're all dead._

* * *

_"Let me die,"_ she whispered.

"_Please, please, __**PLEASE**__ let me die. Just let me die, PLEASE."_

_"It's all my fault."_

_"Please."_

_"Please."_

_"Please. Please kill me. PLEASE. KILL ME PLEASE."_

* * *

He kissed her one last time, even if she couldn't respond.

He savored the moment, her lips on his, her scent, the feeling of her skin, her warmth.

There was nothing else left of him, nothing to feel but pain, more pain than he'd ever felt before, even when he'd suffered from the curse himself.

Then, one last time, he looked into her vacant eyes, saw the glimmer of madness in them.

His pupils dilated.

"You will sleep now, peacefully. Forever. You will dream of the life we had and it will feel real to you."

* * *

_Why weren't you there to protect her the one time she needed you._


	27. an unusual fairytale I

_For Lulu (vampirebarbiecare) - Caroline is a princess and Klaus is a shapeshifting guarding dragon Part 1_

_Despite the unusual prompt I've come to quite enjoy writing this. There are gonna be several parts. :)_

* * *

This was her big day, the day she'd been waiting for all her life. She was going to get married, she was going to be _queen_. She'd been unable to contain her excitement for weeks now and she'd been eagerly planning and packing the things she would take with her to the Lockwood-kingdom for days, forbidding her maids to interfere for this was _her_ life, her things, her marriage and none of them would get it just right anyway. So Anna and Rose just stood by, letting out the occasional sigh as she flitted around the room, arranging and rearranging her dresses and memorabilia.

But now, as she saw her mother climb into her carriage, her heart dropped.

Her parents, her maids, her friends – she was going to miss them. She turned around once more to look at her home, as she'd caught herself doing many times before in the past weeks.

But then she gulped down the emotion and a wide smile plastered her face again.

The time for goodbyes was later.

She wasn't exactly excited for the journey but the thrill of anticipation that had been accompanying her for quite some time now was strong as ever. She'd spend the ride dreaming of her new life.

Yes, she'd packed everything she needed. No need to worry.

She climbed into her carriage where Anna and Rose where already waiting for her and leaned towards the window knowing this was the last she was gonna see of home for a very long time.

* * *

She woke up at a loud noise. Next thing she knew, the carriage was falling as she felt herself flying on top of Anna, who now unfortunately buffered her fall. People were screaming and shouting and Caroline quickly climbed off Anna who was holding her ankle with a pained expression on her face. Caroline gave her a quick nod and then climbed out of the carriage to see what was going on. Yes, she was excited to be a queen, and she most likely enjoyed being a princess but she was no little girl and most definitely no damsel in distress. She leaned out of the carriage and then jumped to her feet, looking around. Several carriages had been thrown over, people were shouting and her father's men pointed their bows at the sky. She looked up.

Her eyes widened in shock as she spotted what exactly it was they were aiming at.

A dragon.

A _big_, black and apparently very fast dragon. She gasped.

To be honest she'd always been enthralled by the tales she heard as a child and the stories the wandering people shared. She'd never thought she'd get to see one herself. '_Snap out of it, Caroline! This is not a desirable situation!_'

She gasped again when she realized the dragon was looking at her. _At her_.

Their eyes met and despite herself, all she could do was stare back at him, unable to process the information, let alone come up with something to do.

The arrows just ricocheted from his lizard skin. Obtaining an arrow was not an option.

Then, suddenly, he moved, so fast that she couldn't keep up with it. People were screaming again but Caroline barely heard them.

She felt claws digging on her shoulders, not forceful enough to puncture her skin but they ripped through her dress. She screamed in terror as suddenly she was lifted off the ground.

She blinked and found herself up in the air, the charade of royal carriages she'd just been a part of shrunken down to the size of ants and then she was even higher.

She couldn't escape, there was no way.

She grasped onto the claws, desperate to make sure she wouldn't fall.

**Fuck**.

Anger overcame her.

"**YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME**!"

She wanted to struggle, to flail around more than anything but she also didn't want to die so she held still as the dragon kept flying steadily into one direction. Strangely enough, she wasn't as afraid as she should be. Instead she found herself enjoying the view. It was spectacular, really. Everything was so small. Her breathing was steadying as she kept her eyes fixed on the ground, adrenaline rushing through her veins. She didn't even notice the cold harsh air against her skin, she was so enthralled by this new experience.

* * *

They landed on a tower, on top of a mountain. Quickly, she skimmed her surroundings. There was _no freaking way_ for her to get down there without killing herself in the process. Great. Just great.

When he sat her down she was shivering. She wrapped her arms around herself, immediately noticing that her dress was ripped on the shoulders.

The dragon was sitting beside her. She glowered at him and then quickly looked around if there was anything she could use as a weapon. They were on some kind of terrace.

A chair. Good.

She looked back at him and then slowly retreated backwards. He looked at her, and she could almost see interest in his eyes. The, she quickly darted towards the chair, grabbed it and held it in front of her, glowering at him again.

"Look," she said, anger reverberating in her tone. "Just to be clear. If you try to eat me I will stick this chair _into your eye_." She held onto one of the legs to accentuate her threat.

The dragon looked at her in what she would interpret as disbelief and then a low noise came from his throat that she interpreted at laughter. Good, so he understood language. At least something.

He didn't move though, just kept watching her.

They stood like this for a few moments, then he sat up and started flying off again.

"**What?**" she screamed, as she moved backwards to shield herself from the waves of air blowing towards her. She almost fell backwards at the impact.

"**SERIOUSLY! YOU'RE JUST GONNA FLY OFF LIKE THAT?**"

But then he was gone, growing smaller and smaller in the distance.

She sat down the chair.

Well, at least she was alive.

She sighed in exasperation and looked around again. There was a door and as she tried to open it she found that there was a room behind it. It was nicely furnished with a bed, a table even a closet and windows, displaying the spectacular view. They even had windows, just like hers back at home, except these were clearer, of a quality so fine she'd never seen anything like it before. She ran her fingers over it in awe. The furniture, too, was beautiful, made of a dark wood unlike anything she knew. The covers on the four-poster bed and so soft under her touch that she couldn't help but gasp again in awe.

Well, at least she was not going to be uncomfortable. And not dead – yet.

* * *

She'd found that there were more rooms to the building, all of them locked and the wood was so hard that there was no way to break through. She tried, though, but the chair she used in the process just broke in two. After having gone through all possibilities for her to escape, coming up with absolutely nothing, she sat down on the bed and waiting. He would come back and bring her food if he didn't want her to starve. _Whatever the hell he even wanted with her._

There had to be someone else living in this place, there was no way this giant creature could have build this, let alone locked the doors. And the place wasn't even run down, everything was clean and in order, no, there had to be someone else in here.

The thought actually made her more uncomfortable the more she thought about it.

She let herself fall back onto the bed, closing her eyes for a moment. Just this morning she had been about to get married. This was supposed to be her big day, a live changing moment. Instead, she was trapped in a tower, abducted by a freaking dragon.

She didn't know enough about her circumstances to form an opinion about whether she was going to survive this. But she was not going to let this get her down. She needed to be alert and emotionally balanced to face this situation and get out alive.

She decided not to sleep and because the bed was so tempting she sat down on an armchair, waiting for whatever was to come.

* * *

Finally, she heard a noise at the door leading into the hallway. Quickly, she got up out of her chair, holding the leg of the one she'd broken earlier out in front of her.

A man entered. He was a little taller than her and much to her surprise, very handsome. He had short dirty blonde hair and his features were almost angelic, a blasting contradiction to the mirth she saw in his eyes and the smirk that plastered his face. He was wearing a tunic shirt, trousers made of leather and boots. The quality of his choice of attire was obviously matching the one of his furniture.

She backed away a little, glowering at him and raising the make shift stake even higher.

"Stay where you are!" she snapped at him, her voice firm and steady.

He chuckled as his he shameless looked her over, his gaze halting at the stake in her hands.

He raised his eyebrows. "I see you decided to vandalize my property. Not a wise choice, love."

She stared him down. "Who are you?" she asked, ignoring his words.

He chuckled again and took a step forward. She didn't back away.

"Do you really estimate this to be the right way to address your captor?"

"So you are the one that had me abducted then?" she asked, carefully eyeing his movements as he proceeded to walk towards her. She should back away but she didn't want to. She was not going to bow down to him that easily.

He smiled. "You could say that," he answered as he halted a few steps in front of her. "Now, aren't you going to beg me to let you go?"

She scoffed. "It takes a _lot_ more to make me beg. Stay away from me!" she shouted, gulping and then finally took a step back.

He cocked his head to the side, the smirk widening on his face. "Well, that certainly sounds tempting, love. But for now…" And then, suddenly, he was in front of her, too fast for her to take up with him, and ripped the piece of wood from her hands. As soon as she could she backed away even farther, her backside hitting the table. Fuck.

He stalked up to her again, now slow but his stance was almost predatory. Suddenly, his expression changed. The smile fell from his face, revealing an ice cold expression that shook her to the bone. "I will only ask once," he said, halting right in front of her, too close. The smirk crept back onto his face, but his eyes were still icy. "Would you please refrain from destroying my furniture?"

She gulped, glaring back at him, unwilling to back down.

"Why did you take me here?" she asked.

He sighed and closed his eyes, the smirk still playing on his lips. He opened them again and took a strand of her hair between his fingers.

"If you insist," he said. "The Loockwoods took something of mine so I decided to take something of theirs."

She scoffed, slapping his hand away. "I am no one's fucking property! And I most definitely don't enjoy being treated as such!"

He raised his eyebrows, amusement in his eyes. "Who said this was about your enjoyment?" Despite the expression on his face, his tone was icy and menacing.

She closed her eyes for a moment.

"What are you planning to do with me?" she asked and then, suddenly, fear overcame her. She evaded her gaze and then looked back to him. "Are you going to kill me?" she asked, her voice smaller now.

Instantly, his eyes softened.

"I don't know," he said. "As of now your are hostage. So we'll see."

Anger flared up in her again, overrunning the fear. She scoffed again. "Well, that's just _wonderful_."

He chuckled and then suddenly backed away, turning on his heels.

"If you behave you will even get a meal tonight."

Then, he left the room, leaving her behind to deal with her ragged breathing that she hadn't even realized she'd held.

She rolled her eyes, her hands clasping onto the table, slightly shaky. She was glad that he was away from her now.

* * *

When night broke, she was really tired and hungry. Restlessly, she paced through the room. At the same time waiting for and dreading his return.

When he did he left the door open behind him, gesturing to her to follow him. She did. She had no choice anyway. She was led into a dining room, just as luxurious as the rest of the rooms.

There was food served on it, exotic things she'd never seen before. The smell was heavenly.

He moved a chair and gestured for her to sit down.

"Sit, love," he said, all charming and friendly now. She tried to find the mirth in his eyes but strangely enough, she didn't. She sat down silently and looked over the table as he sat down in front of her.

Without sparing him another glance she started putting things onto her plate, eager to take one of each. She also noticed a glass of wine sitting by it.

She looked up at him. "How do I know you're not going to poison me?" she asked.

He smirked. "Now, why would I do that? If I recall correctly I already have you at my mercy."

She scoffed and ignored him as she started to eat. She had to hold back a moan of pleasure at the exquisite taste in her mouth. She had never tasted anything like this.

He looked pleased, starting to eat as well but he kept his eyes on her the whole time.

Finally, she her head snapped up. "Seriously, have you never seen anyone eat before?"

He looked caught in the act for the briefest of moments, but then he smirked again and she saw the mirth had returned to his eyes.

"I am just glad you seem to appreciate my hospitality."

She looked down to her food again, taking another bite. "Why would I refuse food after having been locked in that room for the whole day? It's the least you can do."

He looked surprised and then genuinely amused. "Well, I _could_ have locked you in a prison cell, without the comfort of expensive food or the furniture you seem to enjoy destroying."

She scoffed. "What kind of man would do that to a princess?"

He raised his eyebrows. "The kind that doesn't hesitate to 'abduct' her, as you call it."

She shook her head and continued eating, ignoring him until she was done. Only then did she take a small sip of the wine. She didn't plan on getting drunk and drinking on an empty stomach was always a bad idea if one wanted to evade that.

"A man without any notion of honor, it seems."

He took a sip of his drink. "Aren't we a little quick there, love? If I recall so far I have treated you quite decently."

She glared at him. "You abducted me. _On the day of my wedding_."

He raised his eyebrows. "Yes, you are quite right about that. One could even say I saved you from it."

She scoffed. "Seriously? I've been looking forward to this _for my whole life_. I didn't need to be _saved_ from it."

He frowned at her, questioningly. "To be honest I wouldn't have taken you to be that stupid."

She stared at him in disbelief. "What?"

"Well," he elaborated, gesturing around suavely with his hand. "If we're talking of honor the Lockwood house isn't exactly the ideal place to search for it. Quite on the contrary, actually."

She scoffed. "Excuse me?"

He fixed his gaze on her, a serious expression on his face. "Or are you really that naïve? Pray tell, love, why are you so eager to marry that scoundrel of a man?" his voice was low.

She glared at him. "Don't you dare speak of him like that."

He chuckled and shook his head.

"And just for the record, I'm not looking forward to this because I want a beautiful wedding. Not all of it a least." She stared back at him, her expression serious. "I want to be _queen_," she said, her voice firm.

Despite her expectations he didn't laugh at her, instead she saw a glint of admiration in his eyes.

Then, his expression changed again. His gaze turned hard, no hint of a smile or a smirk anywhere.

"The old king, Tyler's father, has made a habit of having captured prisoner's fight each other for their lives. He quite enjoys seeing them bleed to death. He captured two of my brothers." His voice was icy. "One, he had impaled. He sat watching on his throne, eating and drinking the whole time while my brother slowly died an agonizing death. The other, he had burned alive."

She stared at him in shock, unable to move.

"And you know," he said, a menacing smirk returning to his face while his eyes still bore into her. "He has raised his son to be a worthy successor. Recently he had one of the maids stoned to death for allegedly stealing some of his mistress' jewelry."

Her eyes widened even more. "That's right," he continued. "He already has a mistress. Two, if I recall correctly. Now tell me, love, what is it you said about honor?"

She gulped heavily, evading his gaze.

Then she looked back at him, glaring. "I will not believe your lies."

He laughed. "While you have been living in your pretty little princess bubble, apparently you failed to take notice of the nature of the world you're living in."

She stood up, banging the chair behind her to the ground.

"I know very well what kind of world I am living in!" she shouted at him. "I am not stupid. Don't you dare take me for a damsel in distress!"

He looked up at her, his eyes softening. "Oh, but you are, love. Are you aware of the situation you are in?"

She scoffed, placing both hands on the table before her abruptly, producing a loud noise.

"Very much, thank you," she said, her voice low. "But you know, even if what you told me just now is true – I don't see how you are any better than him."

He frowned at her.

"You will abduct an innocent woman to get back at Tyler. I will ask you again: What do you plan to do with me, huh? Burn me alive, have me impaled, _feed me to your dragon_?"

She straightened up again, staring down at him, her lip curled up in disgust.

"I don't know why I should believe a single word out of your mouth. So far all you've done is steal my freedom and try to intimidate me. And now _this_," she gestured around, looking at the dinner table. "Why do you keep me in a fancy room and serve me this ridiculously expensive dinner?"

He looked at her for a few more minutes, the expression on his face unreadable. Then he got up, smirking again. "Would you prefer if I locked you in a prison cell, then? Because that's very arrangable."

She scoffed. "Stop dodging my question."

He raised his eyebrows in appreciation, the smirk widening. "The prison cell it is, then," he said, striding towards her. She backed away, quickly grabbing her knife from the table.

He chuckled and kept approaching her. "You should know better than that by now."

"Well," she snapped. "I can always try."

He came to halt in front of her, quickly snapping the knife out of her hand, too fast for her to follow. She frowned at him. "How do you do that?"

He raised his eyebrows mockingly and then grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the room. She tried to pry his fingers off her, tried to stop him by leaning in the other direction but to no avail.

"**LET GO OF ME!**" she screamed but he just chuckled.

She grasped onto the doorframe, but he just pulled her along like her weight was nothing, like she didn't possess any strength at all. "**YOU FUCKING BASTARD, GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME NOW! I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL-**"

Suddenly he halted, pulling her close. He stared down at her, his expression unreadable again.

"_What_ is it you will do, go ahead and tell me love, I'm very much interested."

She bit down on the inside of her mouth, glowering at him, trying to tip her arm out of his grasp. He was holding on tight but not tight enough to actually hurt her.

"_You need to give me a new dress_," she sneered. "Your dragon ripped this one."

His eyes traveled downwards and his lips formed a smirk again.

"Maybe when I let you out of the cell again," he said and then continued dragging her along.

"**NO!**" she yelled. "**NO! You will not lock me in a stupid cell**!"

He chuckled, opening the lock of a door with his free hand. "Watch me."

She gulped, seeing the inside of the room as the door opened. It was really a cell, made of stone, with nothing in it, only a small barred glassless window in the corner.

He turned to look at her again, raising his eyebrows in expectation for her reaction.

She glared at him and he sighed, gently pushing her into the room.

"No!" she yelled once again, now slightly panicked. She locked her eyes with his, pleading now. "Please."

His eyes softened, a gently smile spreading on his face. "Now, that wasn't that hard, was it."

He let go of her arm and took a step back, allowing her to leave the room again.

Swiftly, she strode towards her bedroom, anger rising up in her again. In front of the room she turned again, glowering at him. "You're a disgusting, awful man. No wonder you live alone in an inaccessible tower."

She almost expected him to lash out at her, instead he just looked at her, an unreadable expression on his face again.

She gave him one last pointy look and then returned to her room, closing the door behind her.

Much to her relief she heard him walking away inside. She sighed heavily and went to the bed, burying herself in the covers. It was soft and huge and so wonderful, she'd never slept in a bed more luxurious than this.

She allowed herself to enjoy the comfort and drifted off to sleep. Keeping herself awake wouldn't make no sense anyway if she was going to stay.

And apparently, she had no choice.


	28. slavery

_Drabble challenge: Slavery_

* * *

It was in the middle east, where he was back in the middle ages, long before he'd killed the hunter, when he started truly entertaining the notion that would become his one leading goal for most of his eternity.

Long ago, after he had killed his mother, he had started to think of people in two categories only: pawns and people of interest. People of interest – there were many, none of them worth sacrificing anything for, but many, many faces over the centuries. He had learned quite a lot over the years, just by talking to people. He had met extraordinary minds, one of a kind-like people, artists, thinkers, people radiating charisma to a degree that they became leaders without even raising a finger.

But, oh, so many, many more pawns. So easy to read, easy to manipulate, irrelevant. Disgusting.

Pawns were supposed to be silent, were supposed to be obedient, replaceable.

But never, not among the pawns, even among the people of interest, did he find what he was looking for.

Complete loyalty, obedience, companionship, family.

He visited the house of a local politician, adorned with the most exotic abundance and there were _slaves_. People reduced to what they were supposed to be, fitting into, accepting their role, their position in the food chain. Loyal, while complete at his mercy. Like a god.

And he could have that, have all of that if he only his mother hadn't put this bloody curse on him.

Little did he know, even the strongest bond could be broken.


	29. an unusual fairytale II

_There will be more. I actually enjoy writing this greatly._

* * *

When she woke up, she was alone in the room. Coming to her senses, she sighed in relief.

She sat up and yawned, stretching her arms over her head. She looked out of the windows. The morning light gave a beautiful yellow glow to the room and she smiled. Then, she stilled.

There was a dress draped over the armchair. She gulped, her hands searching for the makeshift stake she had hidden under her pillow. It was still there.

She sighed in relief again and then got up out of the bed, her feet padding towards the piece of clothing. She ran her fingers over the fabric. Again, something she had never felt before.

Suddenly, she heard a noise from towards the door.

She turned her head and saw him opening it.

She turned away immediately, trying to ignore his presence.

"There's a bath I've prepared for you. We will have breakfast after you took it." His voice sounded almost cheerful.

She scoffed, looking at him despite herself. He smirked at her, obviously in a good mood.

Holding in any further comment she grabbed the dress and walked towards him, following him to the bathroom. On the way, he pointed to the door. "In there is the toilet," he said and then he opened the door beside it. "And this is the bathroom."

She nodded and entered.

There was a big tub in the middle of the room. The air was filled with the scent of roses. The water was of a milky consistence and there were petals swimming in it. She frowned, turning her head towards him in disbelief.

He smirked down at her. "Appropriate for a princess such as you, wouldn't you say?"

She scoffed again, shaking her head and placed the dress on a chair in the room.

He turned and closed the door behind him.

Someone understand this man, because she most certainly didn't.

* * *

They were sitting at – yet another spectacularly tasty – meal and she felt as clean as never before. There had to have been some kind of fancy oil in the water and she had to forcibly hold back not to sniff her own hair.

His mood still seemed to be rather cheerful but she didn't trust it just yet.

Silently, they ate.

Finally, she couldn't take the silence anymore. "Where do you get all this fancy stuff?"

He looked up, smiling at her. "Well, as you already know I have the means to travel far and make mine whatever it is I desire."

She frowned. "So you stole all of this?"

He shook his head. "No, not most of it at least. My family has the means to afford these kinds of things."

She nodded and continued eating.

"What family?" she finally asked, looking back at him.

He smirked again, obviously gloating a little. "Right, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Niklaus of Mikaelson."

She stilled, almost dropping her fork. "**What**?"

He chuckled. "You gotta be kidding me!" she snapped.

She scoffed in disbelief, staring at him. "Why do you live alone in a tower, then?"

He shrugged. "I have my preferences."

"And you just started a war against my kingdom by abducting me."

He smirked. "Well, for one nobody knows who your abductor is just yet. And secondly, as I am sure you're quite aware, that would be a war your family couldn't possibly win."

She continued gaping at him, then shook her head, frowning.

"Wait, nobody knows that it's you who abducted me?"

He nodded. "That is something I planned on making known later."

"How?" she asked, still frowning at him.

His gaze darkened and he looked away for a moment. Then he looked back at her, smirking again.

"Well, the plan has changed so I suppose it doesn't matter anyway."

She leaned back, cocking her head to the side. "What do you mean the plan has changed?"

His smirk widened as he leaned back as well, fixing his gaze on hers.

"Well, despite the expectations I've come to enjoy your company quite a lot. I am going to keep you here."

She scoffed in shock. "What?"

After yesterday night she'd expected a lot of things, but most certainly not this.

"Why?"

He leaned forward again, placing his elbows on the table and clasping his hands together.

He pierced through her with his stare.

"Let's just say you're quite refreshing. An extraordinary girl. Headstrong, smart and very much alive. _Beautiful_," he said, his voice low and she stared back at him in disbelief.

She blushed instantly. No man had ever said anything like this to her.

"_You gotta be kidding me_," she whispered. "You abducted me, threatened me and tried to lock me in a prison cell _yesterday_. What the hell is this supposed to be now?"

He chuckled. "I enjoy you. I want to keep you around. It's simple, really."

"Well," she snapped. "The feeling is not mutual."

He raised his eyebrows and licked his lips. "That is definitely a shame, love, but I fear there is nothing I can do about it. Or maybe there is something, but I am positive you wouldn't appreciate that right now."

She gasped, staring at him in disbelief. "You can't be serious. Talk about honor. You're a shameless bastard."

He stilled for a moment and then laughed whole heartedly.

"Well," he began, still chuckling. "You could definitely say that."

She scoffed, closing her eyes for a moment. "You planned to kill me and leave my corpse as a message for my fiancé."

He stilled again, his smile changing into an unreadable expression.

"Well, you are definitely not just a pretty blonde thing."

She stared him down. "So tell me, why don't you do it already?"

He raised his eyebrows, although his expression was definitely less amused. "I just told you."

She scoffed, crossing her arms. "So you keep me around to entertain you a little and then you kill me and use my body for your stupid revenge plan."

He frowned, now glowering at her.

"Please, love, tell me when exactly I said that."

She threw her head back, now angry again, her lips curled up in disgust. "Just a simple deduction. You know what, I can deduce even more if my intellect entertains you that much. So you are a bastard of Mikael?"

He froze, his eyes fixed on her, his expression unreadable again.

"You live in a tower, which means that you are away from your family. Why? Don't they want you? Tell me, what does your father think about you. Terrible, powerful tyrant Mikael. And so far it seems like you only access this tower via your dragon. A powerful weapon, it seems. Is that why he hates you? You obviously care about your siblings, you want to avenge them. Why aren't you with them, then?"

He didn't move one inch but she could see his eyes darkening rapidly.

"You know, just like you, I have a live. I have goals, a family, aspirations, pride. You can't just snatch me away from all that and expect me to spend some quality time with me. I hate you. I don't know how in the heavens you expected this to turn out but you are not going to do this to me, not with any sort of approval from me. You don't understand people, that is why you are alone. And you know what, I don't even care. Let me go. Find yourself another victim, I am positive there are a lot of damsels in distress out there who could heed to your wishes, but I most certainly am not one of them."

Suddenly, in a flash far too fast for her to catch up with, she found herself pinned to the wall behind her, the chair broken on the floor. Her eyes widened as she took in that he had his hands on her shoulders, holding her in a strong grip, pinning her against the wall.

His face was close, his jaw set in a strong clench, his eyes piercing into her in a glare that was so full of lethal intent she instantly felt her heart dropping in her chest.

He stared at her like this for a while and she held her breath, unable to move.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed up in a violent yellow, the skin around his eyes darkening and changing into a reptile-like skin texture. His mouth was slightly opened, and in it she saw teeth growing and sharpening.

She gasped in surprise, primal fear shooting into her veins.

For a second that lasted an eternity she was unable to come up with a possible explanation.

When it hit her, she gasped again.

He _was_ the dragon.

She opened her mouth but she found herself unable to say anything.

What should she say anyway? _Holy shit, oups, my mistake, you ARE the dragon, well that changes things, please don't kill me? Please don't EAT me? Fuck?_

Then, his face changed back to normal but his expression was still that of a calm fury.

"Tell me, _Caroline_," It was the first time he actually said her name and the tone he used ran shivers down her back, it was like his tongue was caressing the word. "Is it that you _want_ me to kill you? Because if that was your intention you're getting closer to achieving your goal with every single word that falls from your sweet lips."

She didn't react, staring back at him in anticipation.

"You act so high and mighty but in reality you are just a naïve little princess. A smart one, undoubtedly, a courageous one – so courageous actually, that it turns into foolishness, stunning, full of light, but nonetheless you are still a little girl. Suppose I would set you free – where exactly would you go? Back to your family? They will marry you to the Lockwood-boy, I am positive you would enjoy that. A live as a prisoner, a battered wife, the _queen_ aside a tyrant who isn't even able to be faithful to you. No, actually, you would get yourself killed in a week. With your sharp little tongue, so eager to uncover each contradiction, every injustice. And they don't even have a choice because they cannot wage a war against the Lockwoods. Or do you want to be left in the wilderness? In some village? Do you want to get yourself robbed, raped, murdered? Or do you want to spend the rest of your live as a maid with the bastard child of your landlord, a nun, perhaps? If they don't find you and execute you for running away. This is not a world for women. However brilliant you are, they will tear you apart."

She stared back at him, the anger returning into her but still buffered by her fear, too proud to accept the truth to his words yet too smart to ignore them.

He watched her, his rage still very evident in his face.

"Right now I am your best option, your only option. Tell me, why are you so eager to tell me how much I've taken from you, when in reality I _gave_ you things. I let you live, sleep, eat, _bathe_ at a higher standard than even most kings do. Bloody hell, I haven't touched you, I haven't hurt you, even though you tried to attack me, _twice_. But your _freedom_, yes, right, that is important. But tell me, how could I steal something from somebody that isn't even in her possession?"

Despite herself, she could feel tears rising up in her eyes. Suddenly, the fear crushed down on her again, but for a whole different reason now.

"How does it feel to have your family selling you off to a tyrant, for the rest of your live, for political advantages. Tell me, does _your_ father love you? Obviously he doesn't, if he disrespects you that much, if he is too blind to see you for what you are, the potential you are holding. The minute you leave this place you will drown in misery."

Suddenly, his face softened up a little and he raised one hand to her cheek, gently caressing it. She didn't dare move.

"You could be _my_ queen."

She wanted to hold it back but she scoffed, disbelief adding to the fear in her face, shielding her from his piercing gaze that turned cold in an instant again. She felt deep, core shattering fear wash over her. He dropped his hand.

"_Or_ I could heed to your wishes and put you out of your misery. _Use_ you the way I usually planned. You know, I actually entertained the idea of having a little fun with you before I kill you. But that was _before_ I met you. Now things changed, it's either fun or death, you choose."

Despite herself she felt tears spilling out of her eyes, and an ugly sob racked her body as the walls broke down and both her fear and her anger made their way into her face.

He stilled instantly, all anger evaporating in a moment, replaced by an unreadable expression again.

She turned her face away, desperate to hide her shame. She _did not_ want to cry but somehow her stern control had slipped and she found herself unable to stop.

He gasped, keeping his mouth open as if to say something but then closed it again.

He shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, his expression calm and collected but there was a hint of something else she couldn't understand.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice soft and low.

He bit his lip. "I won't kill you. I promise, I won't kill you."

She sobbed again, her hands curling fists around the fabric of her dress, her head still turned away.

Slowly, he raised his arm and pulled her into a soft embrace, careful, as if she was made of china.

She just wanted to kill him right now. Still, she felt a rush of relief overcome her as his hand started caressing her hair and her head rested on his chest.

"I apologize. You pushed me too far, I lost control. You're safe. I won't lay a finger on you."

She didn't react, just sobbed a few times more, her eyes shut tightly.

Then, suddenly, she pushed him away and stormed out of the room. She turned around one last time and glared at him, tears still running down her face but her expression now contorted in anger, shame and disgust.

He stared back at her, his body slightly turning towards her from where they had stood. His expression was unreadable again.

Then, she turned on her heels and walked back to her room, fast paced but with her head held up high and slammed the door of her room behind her.

* * *

In the afternoon she found a piece of paper, slipped through under her door.

With a frown on her face she picked it up.

She gasped in surprise. It was a picture.

A picture of her.

It was the moment she had first seen the dragon, well, _him_. She had her neck bent so that her face was facing the sky, eyes wide in wonder, her hair and dress disheveled in the wind. It was drawn from his perspective. There was no fear in her eyes, just shock and pure awe.

She wanted to hate it but it was so beautiful, she forgot to breathe for a moment.

Finally she blinked, shaking her head and scoffed. She turned the paper around. There was something written on the back.

_I want to show you something_

His writing was just as beautiful as his art. She closed her eyes for a moment.

Then, she laid down the drawing on the table and ran a hand through her hair, staring out of the window.

Then, she walked towards the door and opened it, not surprised that she found him standing a few feet away, waiting.

Their eyes connected for a moment and then he started walking towards a door she hadn't been behind before. She followed him and he opened it, holding the door for her to enter.

She gasped, her eyes widening again as she entered.

The room was bigger than the other rooms she had been in, it had _a glass roof_. It was filled with bookshelves, countless, hundreds of books crowding the room. The afternoon sun painted the room a warm yellow and she took a step forwards, close to one of the bookshelves.

She turned to look at him.

His arms were crossed behind his back and he stared right back at her, his gaze careful and inquiring but intense.

"I see you can read," he said.

She nodded and then turned towards the shelf, running her finger over the spine of a book. "I begged my father to be allowed to learn it."

She pulled out a book and admired its cover.

"You can read anything in here," he said.

She turned her gaze back to him, disbelief and wonder in her eyes.

A small smile flickered over his face and then he turned and left the room, leaving the door open behind him.


End file.
